In this blog, 2L staffer Samuel Lay examines a new method to apply 5th Amendment Takings Claims in response to changing regulations regarding Solar Farms built on farmland in Lexington, Ky. Lay breaks down the changing landscape regarding the city’s solar regulations. This is followed by a proposed new method in determining what constitutes total economic deprivation for a per se takings. The proposed change would alter the current meaning of total deprivation to depriving the owner of the value they have in the land. Lay argues that this new method is fairer to those who want to build solar farms in Lexington but may be discouraged due to the ever-changing landscape of solar regulation in Lexington.
In this blog, 2L staffer Emma Johns explores the expansion of solar energy projects on reclaimed coal lands in Eastern Kentucky. She argues that although these developments offer potential economic and environmental benefits, current legal and regulatory systems fail to adequately protect landowners and local communities. She concludes that stronger regulations and greater community protections are necessary to ensure a fair and effective transition to renewable energy.
In this blog, 2L staffer Sophia Sears analyzes the Prevent All Soring Tactics (PAST) Act, recently introduced to the 119th Congress, which proposes regulations that strengthen the Horse Protection Act (HPA) by broadening the definition of soring, increasing penalties for violations, and replacing the current self-regulatory structure with USDA-administered oversight. Sears argues that such reforms are necessary to address potential conflicts of interest in the current structure and better prevent equine abuse. Ultimately, Sears contends that federal regulations that deliberately combat abuse against horses are essential for preserving the equestrian industry's social license to operate-- such regulations ensure public acceptance of horse-participation in competitive sport.
Chronic Wasting Disease has spread to Kentucky's wild deer population despite decades of regulatory effort, and the state's current framework of surveillance zones, carcass transport restrictions, and captive cervid compliance requirements imposes significant burdens on hunters and farmers while producing diminishing returns against a prion that persists in the environment for years regardless of county lines. In this blog, 2L staffer Chase Turner argues that Kentucky should complement its existing regulatory tools with a structured pilot program allowing state agencies and licensed cervid farms to collaborate on selectively breeding deer carrying less susceptible PRNPgenetic variants, drawing on peer-reviewed research demonstrating that targeted selection can dramatically reduce the frequency of highly susceptible genotypes within a herd. Rather than abandoning containment strategies, Turner calls on Kentucky policymakers to follow the emerging science and make the herd itself part of the solution by shifting some of the focus from restricting what hunters and farmers can do toward building biological resilience into the deer population
In this blog, 2L staffer Kimberly Thomas examines how environmental law is a means to combat the construction of new immigration detention centers that risk local ecosystems and waterways. Kimberly argues that circuit courts must characterize the construction of immigration detention centers as a "major federal action" under NEPA for the safety of our environment.
