He is part of a panel of leading experts on the subject. Mr. McGregor's PowerPoint presentation can be viewed on this website at Slide Shows.
The Takings Clause of the United States Constitution and court cases after Pennsylvania Coal are a check on governmental power which the Due Process and Contracts Clauses used to serve. The decision has transcended its original relevance (on compensation for the government taking of private property) to become in modern times a fundamental determinant of the individual's relation with the government and the limits on governmental power viz private property (real estate, land interests, and money). It is a constitutional limit enforceable in court by invalidation or money damages or both.
The ABA session will survey the evolution of regulatory takings law and assess its impact on federal, state and local government authority, including not only the limits of that power over private property, but how the law as created by Pennsylvania Coal balances the individual's private rights against the government's exercise of regulatory authority in the public interest (especially the federal Commerce Clause power and state police power (aka public health, safety, welfare and the environment). This ambitious session will predict where these trends are taking us and what constitutional, legislative, and executive initiatives should be considered.
Moderator: Dwight Merriam, Simsbury, CT
Speakers: Carole Nicole Brown, Professor, University of Richmond School of Law, Richmond, VA
Robert H. Thomas, Visiting Chair in Property Rights Law, William & Mary Law School, Williamsburg, VA
Gregor I. McGregor, Partner, McGregor Legere & Stevens PC, Boston, MA
