Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection, et al.

The US Supreme Court will consider putting constitutional limits on Florida’s authority to restore storm-eroded beaches along the ocean or lakeshores, when such action modifies private property boundary lines in Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida (08-1151).

The Court granted certiorari on June 15, 2009, with the following questions presented:

The Florida Supreme Court invoked “nonexistent rules of state substantive law" to reverse 100 years of uniform holdings that littoral rights are constitutionally protected. In doing so, did the Florida Court's decision cause a ''judicial taking" proscribed by the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution?

Is the Florida Supreme Court's approval of a legislative scheme that eliminates constitutional littoral rights and replaces them with statutory rights a violation of the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution?

Is the Florida Supreme Court's approval of a legislative scheme that allows an executive agency to unilaterally modify a private landowner's property boundary without a judicial hearing or the payment of just compensation a violation of the due process clauses of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments to the United States Constitution?

The opinion issued by the Florida Supreme Court, which is the subject of the appeal, is an excellent primer for littoral property rights, some of which may apply to Hawaii.

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