Surfrider Foundation Presents at United States Supreme Court

[jack S]

Washington, DC (December 1, 2009) - On December 2, 2009, the United States Supreme Court will hear the case of Florida Department of Environmental Protection v. Stop the Beach Renourishment to decide whether a private property owner has the right to exclude the public from access across the sandy beach in front of their property, when it has been filled with taxpayer-funded sand. The private property owner is claiming a “judicial takings” of their property due to Florida beach management program’s dredging efforts.

Surfrider Foundation petitioned the United States Supreme Court, with an amicus curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief in this case to remember and defend beach access rights and public trust law in the state of Florida. Surfrider Foundation’s brief, written by talented pro bono attorneys at McDermott Will & Emery LLP, argues that the state’s current regime properly allocates the beach access rights to the public after any beach management efforts have occurred. Specifically, the brief argues that the Florida beach access provisions of the beach management program are constitutional on their face, that the private property owner’s private rights are not affected by the Florida law, and that the Judicial Takings Doctrine of the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendment are not applicable in this case. Furthermore, theFlorida law at issue provides reasonable and appropriate measures to enable the State of Florida to discharge its obligations to the citizens of Florida as trustee, under Article X of the Florida Constitution, of the public’s rights of access to the State’s lands to navigable waters.

"Private landowners should not have the right to unilaterally act in a manner that negatively impacts coastlines or public access to the beach. The State of Florida has adopted a reasonable approach that
balances these important public and private rights," says Steve Combs of the Surfrider Foundation Atlanta Chapter who travels to Florida beaches on the weekends.

“This amicus brief effort will undoubtedly continue to bolster the Surfrider Foundation’s 25 years of defending beach access rights and complements our legislation and litigation beach access efforts in Florida, Texas, New Jersey, Hawaii, and elsewhere around the nation,” says Angela Howe, Surfrider Foundation’s Legal Manager.

Further Info:
http://flbeachaccess.blogspot.com/ (case brief)
http://www.surfrider.org/policy_beach_access.asp
http://surfriderblawblawblog.blogspot.com/

[BeachSiO2]

Thanks Jack for the thread and it is great that Surfrider filed an amicus brief on the side of Walton County, Destin and the State. It will be interesting to see how it turns out in the morning and the following weeks. One item of note however is that only the petitioner and respondents will actually be presenting at the US Supreme Court. None of the amicus brief filers will be speaking, at least that is my understanding.

For those who are interested in seeing the actual docket and a listing of all the groups who filed an amicus brief, here it is. It is an impressive list:

Supreme Court Docket

[Bobby J]

This should be very interesting....

[jack S]

Beachsi02; your right. Surfrider will be present in support of our brief. That is a typo on my part in the thread title. It should read present! Duh!

[BeachSiO2]

It was a full house and an interesting process. Not sure how it was compared to other Supreme Court hearings, but the Justices have definitely done their homework and asked good questions of both sides.

[NotDeadYet]

I heard a very interesting report on the radio, by Nina Totenberg, who covers the Supreme Court for NPR. Found the link on NPR, which says the audio will be available after 7pm eastern.
High Court Weighs Florida Beach Case : NPR

[BeachSiO2]

Here's a link to the transcript from today if anyone is interested. The case is 08-1151.

[NotDeadYet]

Also in the NY Times this morning.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/03/us/03scotus.html?hp