Eric R. Claeys "Natural Rights in Property"

Professor Eric Claeys uses the recent case of Campo v. U.S. (involving oyster farming) to illustrate natural rights in property.

In 2019, the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers opened the Bonnet Carré Spillway on the Mississippi River primarily to reduce the risk of flooding. The influx of freshwater lowered salinity levels far enough to kill many oysters on the water bottoms.

Campo and other oyster growers farming pursuant to a lease from the state of Louisiana sued on the grounds that this was a government taking of their property that required just compensation. The government filed a motion to dismiss, arguing that the farmers had no property interest. The Court, in denying the government's motion, references (among other things) natural property rights.

This lecture is part of the Stranahan National Issues Forum. The Stranahan lecture is sponsored by the University of Toledo College of Law and its chapter of the Federalist Society for Law and Public Policy Studies.