NEW ORLEANS – The United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit is set to hear oral arguments on the city of San Marcos’s unconstitutional historic preservation ordinance that forces homeowners to keep unwanted objects on their property. This clearly violates the U.S. Constitution’s taking clause.
TPPF is representing San Marcos homeowners Kristy Money and Rolf Straubhaar, who want to remove a decoration from the front of their home relating to a previous homeowner who had affiliations with the Ku Klux Klan. The couple is prohibited from removing this decoration from their home by an unelected commission empowered to judge the aesthetics of homeowners’ changes to their homes. The City had the opportunity to designate the couple’s home as a historic property but declined to do so and instead argues that it can enforce these regulations without providing any compensation to the property owners.
When: Wednesday, October 9th at 9:00am CT
Where: U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, 600 Camp Street, New Orleans, LA 70130
For live audio, click here (link only active during the hearing).
For additional background on the case, click here.
Watch TPPF’s interview with the plaintiffs here.
Texas Public Policy Foundation is a non-profit free-market research institute based in Austin that aims to foster human flourishing by protecting and promoting liberty, opportunity, and personal responsibility. The Center for the American Future defends the Constitution through legal opposition to government overreach. The Center launches legal challenges at the administrative, district, and appellate court levels on behalf of ordinary people whose lives, liberty, and property are threatened by government action in defiance of the Constitution.
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