In his most recent column for Daily Journal, Manatt Appellate Senior Counsel Michael Berger discussed California’s stringent land use policies in the context of a recent Court of Appeal decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado, and explored how the state has continued its efforts to limit governmental liability for the exaction of property. For instance, he explained that the California judiciary identified two categories for exactions (those imposed by legislation and those imposed ad hoc in administrative proceedings) despite the fact that the U.S. Supreme Court does not discriminate between the exaction’s mode of imposition, and noted the conflict among lower courts regarding how to treat the distinction.
Berger urged the Supreme Court to revisit this issue, concluding, “Whatever one may think about the ultimate outcome of the issue, there is no excuse for the resolution of a fundamental issue of constitutional law to depend on the state or federal circuit in which one resides.”
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