Taking Nevada

The Fritzes owned property at the bottom of Mt. Rose Highway. In the rainiest winter in recent memory it flooded a bit. The Fritzes sued Washoe County for inverse condemnation for a taking by physical invasion arguing that Washoe Co’s decisions to permit up-hill development caused the flooding by preferentially diverting water away from the road and into a creek that cut through the Fritzes property.

The Fritzes complaint was summarily disposed of by the Nevada trial court, which was reversed in a published decision by the Nevada Supreme Court. On remand, the trial court held a trial and ruled against the Fritzes. The Fritzes appealed again, but did not prevail.* The Fritzes then took the matter to the United States Supreme Court. Ultimately, the SCOTUS denied their petition for writ of certiorari.

The denial of cert. is not unusual as the U.S. Supreme Court takes up mere dozens of cases each year.

https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docket/docketfiles/html/public/19-1175.html

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* One issue raised by the Fritzes on their second appeal was an argument that they were entitled to a jury trial on the issue of whether a taking had occurred. I filed an amicus brief on behalf of several public entities explaining that there is no historical right to a jury trial on the taking issue. The jury trial issue was not at play in the U.S. Supreme Court filing.