
With Supreme Court challenge, billionaire could dismantle beach access rights - prostoalex
http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-martins-beach-supreme-court-20180306-story.html
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maxxxxx
The US really needs a freedom to roam law like Britain
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Freedom_to_roam).
Otherwise we'll soon end up with the whole country locked up by billionaires
and farmers. Out in the West it's already hard to hike because a lot of land
is fenced in without any way to pass though.

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ythn
That's really going to suck if he wins. It's only then a matter of time before
all desirable coastline is snatched up by the rich and barred from the public.

I'm a little confused though. Is he wanting to close off the beach itself from
public use or just the access road that people use to get to it? If it's the
latter, it's a little more understandable and I think the state should have to
chip in to maintain the access road and public utilities.

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einarvollset
This is a great example of the arrogance that makes lots of people hate
silicon valley.

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ztratar
I respect Khosla's investments, but I can't believe he isn't running the math
on the negative backlash this is creating against his personal brand.

Californians love their public access to nature. And it's a really nice thing.

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i_am_nomad
What brand, though? Most Californians have no idea who he is, and even if they
do, they probably aren’t aware of which companies he invests in.

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tabeth
Can someone explain to me how one can believe in property rights and also be
against this? fwiw I think property rights should be drastically scaled back.

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djur
I also believe in a more limited concept of private property, but setting that
aside:

Property ownership in the Anglo-American legal system has always been subject
to limitations. Property owners have common-law obligations both to the
government (traditionally the sovereign) and to other private citizens. These
are typically easements
([https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easement](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Easement)).

The US Constitution specifies that the government cannot take property without
"just compensation". The legal dispute at issue here is whether California
requiring Khosla to permit people to travel through his property to reach the
beach is a "taking" or whether it is simply enforcing an existing easement
that was already established at the time he purchased the property.

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TheCoelacanth
Fuck Vinod Khosla. If there was any justice in this country he would be
sitting in a jail cell for contempt of court.

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kaycebasques
I remember when this all first went down. My mom used to take me to Martin's
Beach when I was a young pup.

