The Supreme Court of the United States announced its decision in one case this morning:
Arkansas Game and Fish Commission v. United States, No. 11-597: From 1993 until 2000, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers periodically authorized flooding that extended into the peak growing season for timber on forest land owned and managed by petitioner Commission, and the repeated flooding damaged or destroyed timber and disrupted the ordinary use and enjoyment of the Commission’s property. The Commission sought compensation from the United States pursuant to the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause. Reversing the judgment of the Court of Federal Claims, which awarded compensation to the Commission, the Federal Circuit held that compensation may be sought only when flooding is “a permanent or inevitably recurring condition, rather than an inherently temporary situation.” Today, the Supreme Court reversed, concluding that recurrent floodings, even if of finite duration, are not categorically exempt from Takings Clause liability, and remanding for further proceedings.
The Court’s opinion is available here.