San Francisco Daily Journal, Oct. 8, by Lawrence Hurley
http://www.dailyjournal.com/law/index.cfm
Richard M. Frank … countered that the concentration of 9th Circuit cases is simply due to the fact that it hears more environmental cases than other circuits. “That’s an objective fact,” he said…. Frank, for one, is pleased that the court is taking more environmental cases than it has in recent years. “It signals a renewed interest in environmental law,” he said.
San Francisco Daily Journal, Oct. 7, by Richard M. Frank
http://www.dailyjournal.com/law/index.cfm
“The EPIC, Zack’s and CBE decisions signal a reawakening by environmental litigants to the challenges and opportunities presented by the public trust doctrine as a tool of environmental advocacy. Similarly, the thoughtful treatment of public trust principles in each of these decisions underscores the fact that California’s judiciary continues to take the doctrine seriously, and to view public trust principles as a major component of modern environmental law and policy.”
California Magazine, September/October, by Kerry Tremain
http://alumni.berkeley.edu/California/main.asp
“The fundamental responsibility of government is not to put citizens in harm’s way,” says Rick Frank…. The first order of business, Frank believes, is to “draw a line in the peat”—to stop further urbanization of fragile areas now.
The Daily Californian, September 5, by Will Kane
http://www.dailycal.org/article/102479/court_uc_berkeley_can_build_athletic_center
“I don’t think it is a definitive signal, but it certainly is a signal,” he said. “One can infer the court has made a preliminary opinion.”
San Francisco Daily Journal, June 6, by Laura Ernde
http://www.dailyjournal.com [Registration required]
“Business as usual, in terms of water diversion, is basically at an end.… It’s an important policy decision. It speaks some broader truths and I think some of the language that is in there is going to influence policy-making by the other two branches of government.”
San Francisco Daily Journal, June 5, by Peter Matuszak
http://www.dailyjournal.com [Registration required]
“I think the opponents of Prop. 99 are correct and probably it will not have that much on-the-ground impact.… In recent years since Kelo, we have rarely seen it used in California to condemn owner-occupied, single-family homes. That behavior and government conduct hadn’t occurred more in California, according to most studies.”
-San Francisco Chronicle, May 20, by Deborah Saunders
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/05/20/EDVT10N2DQ.DTL
Rick Frank told me, “If Proposition 98 passes, it will be the property-rights and eminent-domain lawyers full employment act.”
-Contra Costa Times, May 25, by Richard Frank
http://www.contracostatimes.com/berkeleyvoice/ci_9271750
“Both propositions are vague as to when state government would be able to condemn property to prevent criminal conduct (e.g., crack houses) or protect public health and safety interests from hazardous waste sites.”
-KTVU Evening News, May 27, by Jim Vargas
[Link not available]
“Proposition 98 goes far beyond what is being advertised as the ‘save my home’ initiative … Water storage projects, water transfer projects, flood control measures and the like would all be threatened and perhaps impossible if Proposition 98 were to be enacted by the voters.”
-San Francisco Daily Journal, May 28, by Richard Frank
[Registration required, or go to G:\Law School in the News\News Clips]
“Californians can expect a great deal of litigation over the initiatives. A successful Proposition 98, in particular, promises to be the subject of numerous lawsuits that will likely be needed to resolve definitively the scope and meaning of that measure. Conversely, if both Propositions 98 and 99 are defeated at the polls, it can be safely predicted that California’s longstanding legal and policy debate over eminent domain, rent control and property rights will continue well past June.”
-ABC7-TV News, May 29, by Dan Ashley
http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=news/assignment_7&id=6173232
An independent analysis by the University of California Center for Environmental Law and Policy found confusing language in both propositions…. “My sense is that if Proposition 98 is enacted, we will see a great deal of litigation to address a number of the key ambiguities in that measure,” says Richard Frank with the Center for Environmental Law and Policy.
Contra Costa Times, May 14, by Mike Taugher
http://www.contracostatimes.com/nationandworld/ci_9261474
“The potential implications are limitless in terms of federal projects,” said Richard Frank.
San Francisco Daily Journal, May 6, by Laura Ernde
http://www.dailyjournal.com
“[The justices] are showing a level of engagement and interest that I haven’t seen since CEQA [California Environmental Quality Act] was enacted in the 1970s,” said Richard M. Frank…. “Thirty-eight years after the statute took effect, it’s still raising a lot of important and hotly debated issues.”
Daily Journal, April 30, by Fiona Smith
http://www.dailyjournal.com
“I think it will show up the potential and limitations of the Endangered Species Act as a tool of environmental policy making,” Frank said. “The ESA is more of a sledgehammer than a surgical instrument,” and it is “not the ideal means of addressing the extremely broad causes and effects of climate change.”