On October 31st, the US Supreme Court denied a petition for certiorari filed by private landowners in the Pavlock case, declining to consider the legal questions posed by petitioners and to require further consideration by the 7th Circuit.
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The Conservation Law Center is excited to announce the creation of a new position - the Constance and Terry Marbach Conservation Attorney. Indiana University Maurer School of Law Class of 2021 Alum Kacey Cook has accepted this inaugural position.
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Spring 2022 will be Professor Jeff Hyman’s final semester teaching the Conservation Law Clinic through Indiana University Maurer School of Law. Jeff has taught over 150 law students throughout his tenure with CLC, many of whom have gone on to practice environmental law as a career. It is safe to say he had high expectations of his students and held them to a high standard, but he also met them with honesty and respect. Clinic students have been fortunate to learn both the practice of law as well as specific areas of environmental law from such an experienced professional.
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It has become clear to us that the case was not just about the Gundersons and a single beach. Nor was it just about Indiana or even just about Lake Michigan. Rather, the Gunderson case was a strategically important battle in a nationwide war over the sanctity and future of public lands in this country.
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The Conservation Law Center, with attorney Jeff Hyman leading the litigation, represented environmental groups Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a bid to protect the public’s right to use the Lake Michigan shore as public land.
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This July, La Porte County Judge Richard R. Stalbrink ruled that Indiana holds the state’s Lake Michigan shore in trust for public uses, including swimming, sunbathing, and other recreational activities. The decision, Gunderson v. State, No. 46D02-1401-PL-606 (LaPorte Super. Ct. 2 July 24, 2015) establishes that citizens’ rights extend beyond the water to an administratively established boundary on the shore, regardless of beach ownership.
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The Center has been representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in a lawsuit in which certain owners of lakeside property claim ownership of the beach of Lake Michigan right down to the water's edge. The trial court decided that it wasn't a proper forum to settle the ownership question, but affirmed our argument that regardless of ownership, any activity on the land in question must be consistent with the "public trust,"" a legal doctrine that is meant to protect the public's interest in the values of certain critical natural resources.
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CLC is representing the Alliance for the Great Lakes and Save the Dunes in litigation over the application of the public trust and the boundary of the State of Indiana's ownership of the shore of Lake Michigan. The lawsuit began when certain owners of lakeside property sued the Town of Long Beach, claiming a town resolution interfered with their rights. The complaint asks the court to declare that there is no public right in the shore landward of the water's edge. CLC’s clients believe that the conservation interest in the lakeshore will be best served by defending the claim of public rights in the shoreland.
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CLC attorneys and Clinic interns advised long-standing client, Great Lakes United, and four other conservation groups in preparing comments on the U.S. Coast Guard's ballast water rulemaking (docket number USCG-2001-10486). The dangers that ballast water poses for the introduction of aquatic invasive species have been recognized for well over a century.
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CLC attorneys and Clinic interns continue the CLC's multiyear involvement in Indiana's antidegradation rulemaking on behalf of client Alliance for the Great Lakes. The rulemaking is required under the Clean Water Act. After more than a year of stakeholder working groups and intense negotiations over the language of the rule, the draft rule issued by the agency is still unlikely to be approved by USEPA.
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CLC attorneys and Clinic interns advised long-standing client Great Lakes United as it prepares comments on the U.S. Coast Guard's proposed ballast water treatment regulations.
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