CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO) – A case regarding unclaimed funds in California could lead to a U.S. Supreme Court decision that would effect the Cleveland Browns’ new stadium in Brook Park.
DannLaw lawyers have recently filed an amicus curiae brief, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to review a lawsuit out of California related to the use of unclaimed funds.
DannLaw, managed by former Ohio Attorney General Marc Dann, filed a lawsuit in July surrounding the constitutionality of using unclaimed funds to pay for a privately-owned stadium. That lawsuit was filed in Franklin County.
This amicus curiae brief that was filed supports Peters v. Cohen, a California based lawsuit. That lawsuit argues the constitutionality of “California’s practice of seizing and liquidating private property under its Unclaimed Property Law without providing direct notice to owners and without compensating them at the time of the taking”.
DannLaw argues that this case, and the case in Ohio, are comparable with a decision impacting both states.
“This isn’t about football or California or Ohio it’s about whether our most basic property rights mean anything when the government decides it wants what’s ours. If states can take money held in trust for citizens and spend it on private ventures, no one’s property is safe. We’re asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make clear that due process and just compensation are not optional,” Marc Dann, managing partner of DannLaw, said.
The brief is asking that the Supreme Court use the Peters case as a way to establish the full legality of how unclaimed funds can be used. Claiming a lack of a decision makes “millions of Americans vulnerable to losing their property without even knowing it was a risk.”
This decision could have massive implications on a new Browns stadium. The new budget allocated $600M from the state’s Department of Unclaimed Funds to the Browns. If that funding was deemed unconstitutional, it’s not known how the team would make up the gap.
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