The court holds that a municipal solid waste district that condemned a landowner's property for use as a landfill did not violate the landowner's right to due process or "take" money the landowner spent fighting the condemnation, but may have violated the landowner's right to equal protection. The c...

The court holds that a district court erroneously dismissed a nondiverse defendant as fraudulently joined in an action based on oil companies' alleged contamination of Mississippi property with naturally occurring radioactive material (NORM). The court first holds that a party removing an action to ...

The court holds that a district court properly dismissed a class action brought by Peruvian citizens alleging injuries from a U.S. corporation's copper smelting and refining operations in Peru. The court first holds that the district court had federal question jurisdiction because the complaint rais...

The court holds that a Minnesota waste management statute that requires public entities to comply with county waste management plans does not violate the Commerce Clause of the U.S. Constitution by barring the importation of waste processing services. Minnesota statute §115A.46 requires public enti...

The court vacates district court sanctions that called for the suspension of three attorneys and the payment of $1 million to a halfway house, but affirms a $120,000 sanction for counsel fees and costs, which were imposed against a law firm and its client, an oil company, for discovery violations in...

The court holds that it lacks jurisdiction over an interlocutory appeal of a district court's refusal to hold a pre-indictment hearing to determine if the government improperly used compelled employee statements in a grand jury proceeding regarding an explosion at a rocket-fuel manufacturing facilit...

The court affirms a district court decision holding that various state environmental officials' delay in approving a permit to build a pier did not violate the applicants' due process, equal protection, or First Amendment rights. In 1991, the applicants, who own a tree farm on an island off the coas...

The court holds that a low-level radioactive waste (LLRW) facility developer lacks standing to challenge the Secretary of the Interior's rescission of its previous record of decision approving the sale and transfer of federal land to the state of California, which would have allowed the developer to...

The court affirms a district court's grant of summary judgment in favor of a local commission charged with maintaining and operating the Red River Waterway in Louisiana in an inverse condemnation suit brought against it by riparian landowners whose property was flooded after the U.S. Army Corps of E...

The court affirms a district court decision holding unripe a property owner's federal takings claim against a city for demolishing his building because the owner failed to seek compensation for the taking through available state procedures. The court holds that the property owner must bring an actio...