This course will meet on Wednesdays, Thursdays, and Fridays between 1:20pm and 2:40pm in WCC1015.

All of the assigned materials will be drawn from three sources:

• Dukeminier et al., Property (9th edition, 2018) (available for purchase in the Coop; abbreviated “DK”);
• Fisher, Materials on Property Law (available from the HLS Copy Center, abbreviated “M”);
• the Internet (links contained in the syllabus).

The dates set forth in the syllabus are approximate. They will be adjusted periodically during the course.

Part I: The Creation and Allocation of Property Rights (3 weeks)

A. Property in Land (January 30)

• Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823) [DK 4-10]
  • Notes 1-7 [DK 10-19]

B. Property in Wild Animals (January 31, February 1)

• Ghen v. Rich, 8 Fed. 159 (D.Mass. 1881) [DK 27-29]
• Melville, Moby Dick, chpt. 89 [M 1-3]
• Andrews, “Tuna Boats Battle,” Boston Globe, Sept. 17, 1985 [M 4]
• The Labor Theory of Property: 
  • Locke, The Second Treatise of Government chap. 5 (1689) [M 5-13]
  • Peter Schworm, “Boston, City of Savers,” Boston Globe, Jan. 19, 2011

C. Property in Water (February 6, 7, 8)

• Evans v. Merriweather, 4 Ill. 492 (1842) [M 14-17]
• Coffin v. Left Hand Ditch Co., 6 Colo. 443 (1882) [M 18-20]
• The Utilitarian Theory of Property:
  • A. Mitchell Polinsky, An Introduction to Law and Economics 1-24 (1983) [M 21-43]
  • Jolls, Sunstein, and Thaler, A Behavioral Approach to Law and Economics, pp. 1471-1489 [M 44-62]
  • Slides on Bounded Rationality
• Variations on Yonadi v. Homestead Country Homes, 114 A.2d 564 (N.J. App. Div. 1955) [M 63-65]

D. Property in Information and Ideas (February 13, 14, 15)

• Note on Copyright [DK 140-41]
• Feist Publications v. Rural Telephone, 499 U.S. 340 (1991) [DK 141-45]
  • Notes 1-7 [DK 145-48]
• Author’s Guild v. Google, 804 F.3d 202 (2nd Cir. 2015) [DK 148-58]
• Presentation by Judge Leval on the Fair Use Doctrine (April 2018) [YouTube] [Download]
• An Act Relative to the Preservation of Art (Mass. 1985)
• The Personality Theory of Property:
  • Jeremy Waldron, The Right to Private Property chpt. 8 (1988) [M 66-98]
  • Erving Goffman, Asylums: Essays on the Social Situation of Mental Patients and Other Inmates 18-21, 244-54 (1961) [M 99-105]
• The Cultural Theory of Property
  • Fisher, The Puzzle of Traditional Knowledge, 67 Duke L.J. 1511 (2018)

E. Property in People (February 20)

• Case Study on the Law of Slavery [M 106-126]

Part II: Mechanisms for the Transfer of Property Rights (2 weeks)

A. Conquest (February 21)

• review: Johnson v. M’Intosh, 21 U.S. 543 (1823) [DK 4-10]

B. The Law of Finders (February 21)

• Armory v. Delamirie, 1 Strange 505 (K.B. 1722) [DK 54]
  • Notes 1-5 [DK 54-57]
• Hannah v. Peel, 1945 K.B. 509 [DK 57-62]
  • Notes 1-3 [DK 62-63]
• McAvoy v. Medina, 11 Allen 548 (Mass. 1866) [DK 63-64]
• Hamaker v. Blanchard, 90 Pa. 377 (1879) [M II-1]
  • Notes 1-7 [DK 64-70]
• Mass. General Laws, ch. 134

C. Adverse Possession, Prescription, and Estoppel (February 22, 27)

• Perspectives on Adverse Possession:
  • Powell on Real Property [DK 70-71]
  • Hume, A Treatise of Human Nature bk. III, pt. 2, sec. 3 (1739-40) [M II-]
  • Mill, Principles of Political Economy bk. II, chap. 2 (7th ed. 1871) [M II-]
  • Holmes, “The Path of the Law” (1897) [DK 72]
  • Holmes, Letter to William James, April 1, 1907 [M II-]
  • Salmond’s Jurisprudence 414-16 (2d ed. 1907) [M II-]
• Van Valkenburgh v. Lutz, 304 N.Y. 95 (1952) [DK 76-84]
  • Notes on adverse possession [DK 85-88]
• O’Keeffe v. Snyder, 83 N.J. 478 (1980) [DK 103-110]
  • Note on O’Keeffe [DK 111-12]
  • Notes on Adverse Possession of Chattels [DK 112-13]
• South Norwalk Lodge, No. 709, Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks v. Palco Hats, 100 A.2d 735 (Ct. 1953) [M II-]
  • Notes on Prescriptive Easements [M II-]
• Holbrook v. Taylor, 532 S.W.2d 763 (Ky. 1976) [DK 772-75]
• The Statute of Frauds, 29 Chas. 2, c. 3 (1677) [DK 569-70]
• Shepard v. Purvine, 196 Or. 348 (1952) [DK 775]
• Henry v. Dalton, 98 R.I. 150 (1959) [DK 776]

D. Disposition of Property upon the Death of the Owner (February 28, March 1)

• Mass. General Laws, ch. 190B, article II (2012) [M II-]
• Glendon, “Matrimonial Property: A Comparative Study of Law and Social Change,” 49 Tul. L. Rev. 21, 58-62 (1974) [M II-]
• Maria Cramer, “A Patriarch Leaves No Will, and the Home He Meant for His Cambridge Family May Be Lost,” Boston Globe, February 7, 2019
• “Pet Care: Where There’s a Will,” Boston Globe, Jan. 5, 2011
• Introductory Note on Trusts [DK 337-39]
• Broadway National Bank v. Adams, 133 Mass. 170 (1882) [DK 339-42]
• J. Peder Zane, “The Rise of Incentive Trusts; Six Feet Under and Overbearing,” New York Times, March 12, 1995 [M II-]

E. Gifts (March 6)

• Note on the Delivery Requirement [DK 114-15]
• Note 1 on Gifts Causa Mortis [DK 122-23]
• Gruen v. Gruen, 68 N.Y.2d 48 (1986) [DK 123-28]
• Notes 1-5 [DK 129]

F. Sales (March 6-7)

• Rose, “Crystals and Mud in Property Law,” 40 Stan. L. Rev. 577 (1988) [M II-]

Part III: Varieties of Permissible Interests (4 weeks)

A. Freehold Estates (March 7-8)

1. The Fee Simple: (March 7)

• Notes on the History of the Estate System [DK 249-61]
• Johnson v. Whiton, 159 Mass. 424 (1893) [M III-]

2. The Fee Tail: (March 7)

• Notes on the History and Reform of the Fee Tail [DK 261-65]

3. The Life Estate: (March 8)

• Introductory Note [DK 265]
• White v. Brown, 559 S.W.2d 938 (Tenn. 1977) [DK 266-71]
• Notes on Restraints on Alienation and Valuation of Future Interests [DK 271-74]
• Melms v. Pabst Brewing Co., 104 Wis. 7 (1899) [M III-]

4. Defeasible Estates: (March 8)

• Notes [DK 283-86]
• Mahrenholz v. County Board of School Trustees, 95 Ill. App. 3d 366 (1981) [DK 286-92]
• Notes 1-5 [DK 292-94]
• Problem Set #1 [handout]

B. Future Interests (March 13; March 14)

• Introductory Note [DK 313-314]
• Notes on Future Interests in Transferors [DK 315-317]
• Notes on Future Interests in Transferees [DK 317-322, 327-333]
• Introductory Notes on the Rule Against Perpetuities [DK 349-351]
• Note on Gifts to Classes [DK 356-57]
• The Symphony Space v. Pergola Properties, 88 N.Y.2d 466 (1996) [DK 360-370]
• Notes 1-5 [DK 370-372]
• Notes on the “Perpetuities Reform” [DK 373-379]
• Problem Set #2 [handout]

C. Nonpossessory Interests (March 27)

• Introductory Note on Easements [DK 761-766]
• Note on Negative Easements [DK 829-832]
• Notes and Problems on Covenants Running With the Land [DK 835-838]
• Tulk v. Moxhay, 41 Eng. Rep. 1143 (1848) [DK 838-841]
• Notes 1-6 [DK 841-43]
• Problem Set #3 [handout]
• Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948) [DK 859-862]
• Notes 1-6 [DK 863-865]
• Table of Cases construing the “touch and concern” requirement [M III-]

D. Nonfreehold Estates (March 28, 29)

1. The Catalogue of Estates

• Notes on the Term of Years, Periodic Tenancy, Tenancy at Will, and Tenancy at Sufferance [DK 461-463, 467-68]
• Problem Set #4 [handout]

2. Condition of the Premises: Revolution in Tenants’ Rights

• Intoductory Notes [DK 522, 528-531, 532]
• Hilder v. St. Peter, 144 Vt. 150 (1984) [DK 533-539]
• Notes on the Implied Warranty of Habitability [DK 539-42]
• Note on Retaliatory Eviction [DK 542-543]
• Note on Law Reform [DK 543-546]
• Notes on the Landlord’s Tort Liability [DK 546-548]
• Letter from Judge Wright to Prof. Rabin (Oct. 14, 1982) [M III-]
• Kennedy, “The Effect of the Warranty of Habitability on Low Income Housing: `Milking’ and Class Violence,” 15 Fla. St. L. Rev. 485, 485-92, 496-501, 518-19 (1987) [M III-]
• Radin, “Property and Personhood,” 34 Stan. L. Rev. 957 (1982) [M III-]
• James, The Portrait of a Lady (1871) [M III-]

3. The Anti-Discrimination Principle

• The Fair Housing Act, 42 U.S.C. secs. 3601-3631 (1984) [DK 471-472]
• Notes 1-7 [DK 473-78]
• Posner, Economic Analysis of Law 525-28, 533-34 (1977) [M III-]
• Karst, “The Freedom of Intimate Association,” 89 Yale L.J. 624 (1980) [M III-]

E. Concurrent Estates (April 3, 4 (double class))

1. The Common-Law System and its Reform

• Note on tenancy in common, joint tenancy, and tenancy by the entirety [DK 387-390]
• Problem Set #5 [handout]
• Notes on Marital Property and Coverture [DK 427-29]
• Sawada v. Endo, 561 P.2d 1291 (Hawaii 1977). [DK 429-34]

2. Community Property

• Notes (excluding “Problems”) [DK 447-456]

3. Access to Marriage

• Obergefell v. Hodges, 135 S.Ct. 2584 (2016) [DK 456-458]

4. Dissolution of Marriage

• Note on the systems in force in common-law jurisdictions [DK 437-38]
• In re Marriage of Graham, 574 P.2d 75 (Colo. 1978) [DK 438-443]
• Notes 1-4 [DK 443-444]
• Fineman, “Implementing Equality: Ideology, Contradiction and Social Change,” 1983 Wis. L. Rev. 789, 789-842 [M III-]
• Weitzman, The Divorce Revolution 70-73, 104-08 (1985) [M III-]

Part IV: The Meaning of Ownership (2 weeks)

Introduction:  (April 10)

• Hohfeld, “Some Fundamental Legal Conceptions as Applied in Judicial Reasoning,” 23 Yale L.J. 16 (1913) [M IV-]

A. Entitlements Associated with Ownership of Land. (April 10, 11, 12)

1. Rights to Quiet Enjoyment (Privileges to Use and Exploit)

• Middlesex Co. v. McCue, 149 Mass. 103 (1889) [M IV-]
• Morgan v. High Penn Oil Co., 238 N.C. 185 (1953) [DK 731-734]
• Notes on the law of nuisance [DK 734-738]
• Arkansas Release Guidance Foundation v. Needler, 252 Ark. 194 (1972) [M IV-]
• Boomer v. Atlantic Cement Co., 26 N.Y.2d 9 (1970) [DK 742-746]
• Notes 1-4 [DK 746-749]
• Spur Industries v. Del. E. Webb Development Co., 494 P.2d 700 (Ariz. 1972). [DK 749-54]
• Polinsky, An Introduction to Law and Economics (1983) (1-24) [M I-]

2. Rights to Support (Privileges to Dig)

• Note on Lateral and Subjacent Support [DK 738]

3. Rights to Light (Privileges to Shadow)

• Prah v. Maretti, 108 Wis. 223 (1982) [M IV-]
• Notes 1-3 [M IV-]
• Rich, “Dreams Before Waking,” in Your Native Land, Your Life (1983) [M IV-]

4. Rights to Exclude (Privileges to Enter)

• Campbell v. Race, 7 Cush. 408 (Mass. 1852) [M IV-]
• Henderson & Pearson, The Torts Process 869-72 (1981) [M IV-]
• Note on remedies and penalties [M IV-]
• Cohen, “Property and Sovereignty,” 13 Cornell L.Q. 8, 12-14 (1927) [M IV-]
• Title II of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 [M IV-]
• State v. Shack, 58 N.J. 297 (1971) [DK 207-209]

5. Duties to Render the Premises Safe

• Robert Addie & Sons (Colleries), Ltd. v. Drumbeck, 1929 A.C. 358 [M IV-]
• Notes 1-7 on Attractive Nuisance, Licensees, and Invitees [M IV-]
• Rowland v. Christian, 69 Cal. 2d 108 (1968) [M IV-]
• Notes 1-5 [M IV-]

B. Modification of those Entitlements by Municipal Government (April 17, 18)

1. Introduction:

• Note on the History of Zoning [DK 895-99]
• Village of Euclid v. Ambler Realty Co., 272 U.S. 365 (1926) [DK 899-907]
• Notes 1-5 [DK 907-910]
• Notes on Enabling Legislation, Comprehensive Plans, Zoning Ordinances, and Subdivision Controls [DK 910-13]
• Note on the Economics of Zoning [DK 913-14]

2. Legitimate and Illegitimate Objectives:

• Note on the Aims of Zoning [DK 937-38]
• Stoyanoff v. Berkeley, 458 S.W.2d 305 (1970) [DK 938-44]
• Notes on aesthetic zoning [DK 944-46]
• Anderson v. City of Issaquah, 70 Wash. App. 64 (1993) [DK 947-54]
• Notes 1-3 [DK 954-59]

3. Exclusionary Zoning:

• Southern Burlington County NAACP v. Township of Mount Laurel, 67 N.J. 151 (1975) [DK 972-86]
• Notes 1-8 [DK 986-996]
• Zoning Board of Appeals of Greenfield v. Housing Appeals Committee, 15 Mass. App. 553 (1983) [IV- ]
• Downs, Opening Up the Suburbs [M IV-]
• Wall Street Journal Editorial [M IV-]

C. Modification of Those Entitlements by Private Organizations (April 19)

• Note on Condominiums [DK 873-876]
• Nahrsted v. Lakeside Village Condominium Assoc., 11 Cal. Reptr. 2d 299 (1992) [DK 876-886]
• Ellickson, “Cities and Homeowners Associations,” 130 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1519, 1526-30 (1982) [M IV-]
• Frug, “Cities and Homeowners Associations: A Reply,” 130 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1589 (1982) [M IV-]
• Ellickson, “A Reply to Frug,” 130 U. Pa. L. Rev. 1602, 1604-08 (1982) [M IV-]

Part V: “Nor Shall Private Property Be Taken For Public Use, Without Just Compensation” (1 week) (April 24, 25, 26)

A. The Power of Eminent Domain:

• Introductory Note [DK 997-98]
• Notes on economic justifications of the power [DK 999-1001]

B. Public Use

• Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) [DK 1001-1013] 
• Notes on Public Use [DK 1013-1021] 

C. Regulatory Takings:

• Pennsylvania Coal Co. v. Mahon, 260 U.S. 393 (1922) [DK 1042-48]
• Notes 1-4 [DK 1048-50]
• Penn Central Transportation Co. v. New York City, 438 U.S. 104 (1978) [DK 1050-1062]
• Notes 1-3 [DK 11063-68]
• Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal Council, 505 U.S. 1003 (1992) [DK 1068-83]
• Notes 1-5 [DK 1084-88]
• Murr v. Wisconsin, 137 S.Ct. 1933 (2017) [DK 1088-1101] 
• Notes [DK 1101-02] 

Sample Examinations

• 2011 Examination
• 2006 Examination 
  • Model Answer #1
  • Model Answer #2
  • Model Answer #3
• 2003 Examination
• 1998 Examination

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