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Gold/Mining/Energy : coastal caribbean (cco@) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Edwin S. Fujinaka who wrote (2680)	5/6/2001 2:16:49 AM
From: Edwin S. Fujinaka	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4686

Judge L. Ralph Smith of the Circuit Court of Leon County (our Judge in this case) has been described to me as a "good, intelligent, Conservative" by a friend who lives in Florida and is very knowledgeable about the Court System there. I sent my friend this comment: The Judge is L. Ralph Smith of Leon County. I'm glad to hear that He is a good, intelligent, Conservative. If you had a chance to read the Appeals Court Ruling that sent this case back to the Circuit Court and Judge Ralph Smith, they included a statement that suggested that "just compensation" had to be paid if the State of Florida wants to preclude drilling and/or development of the Coastal Petroleum Leases. The entire three Judge Appeals Court Rulings is as follows, but I have excerpted the last paragraph first: "There is no dispute that the appellant has a viable contract with the State of Florida to explore for and extract oil from submerged sovereignty lands. DEP's interpretation and application of the permitting statute, based on its determination that there is a compelling public purpose in not allowing the appellant to drill off shore, effectively prevents the appellant from exercising its rights under the contract. DEP's action would be unconstitutional only if just compensation is not paid for what is taken. Fla. Const. Art. X, § 6. This is a matter to be resolved in the circuit court." It seems to me that the last two lines of the Appeals Court Ruling virtually mandates that Judge Smith has to find that the State of Florida has "taken" the Plaintiffs property rights and must pay "just compensation". Ed Reference #3 Appeal Court Ruling. October 6, 1999 coastalcarib.com