Monthly Archives: June 2021

Texas Gov. Greg Abbott recently announced state plans to build a border wall where the Trump administration left off. During his campaign and presidency, former President Donald Trump promised the construction of a wall along the border between the southern United States and Mexico. That construction was halted when President Joe Biden took office in 2021. Recently, Texas OCA Member Charles McFarland was asked to weigh in on Govenor Abbott’s plans. He stated that there are several logistical challenges to this plan, including the fact that much of the needed land is privately-owned. “Some property owners will likely sue the federal government over its use of eminent domain.”  Click here to read the full exchange.                                        

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled today in Cedar Point v. Hassid  that California’s “access regulation” law allowing union organizers to enter agricultural property for a certain amount of time without the owner’s consent, constitutes a per se  physical taking. In 2015, union activists entered Cedar Point Nursery seeking to encourage farm workers who worked there to join the United Farm Workers union. But the farm owner, Mike Fahner, didn’t give the union permission to come onto his property and wasn’t even made aware they were coming. Worse yet, Fahner wasn’t legally allowed to tell them to leave because of a California law allowing union activists to invade private property to recruit new members. Fahner and other California farmers challenged California’s law in court and their case made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court. Click here to read the opinion in its entirety.