In March, The New York Times ran a story about a feud between two neighbors in Fairfax, Virginia, over an unsightly, three-story home addition. The homeowner’s next-door neighbor was angered by the 32-foot-tall addition, which towered over her single-story home from the edge of his property. After complaints about the addition drew local news attention, the zoning board investigated and found that it was 7.2 inches too close to the neighbor’s property, which violated the required 8-foot setback rule. A stop-work order was issued, and construction stopped. Now, the addition stands empty and unfinished, useless to the homeowner and an eyesore to the neighbors.

The discovery of dinosaur fossils presents a core property law issue involving ownership. In 1990, Sue Hendrickson excavated Sue the T-Rex, one of the largest, most complete Tyrannosaurus rex fossils on a ranch owned by Maurice Williams. Hendrickson was working with the Black Hills Institute of Geological Research (BHI), a private commercial fossil collector, and gained William’s permission to excavate. In 1992, the FBI seized Sue the T-Rex, claiming the fossil belonged to the government because it was found on land held in government trust. What followed was a legal battle over who owned Sue the T-Rex. The courts found that Williams was the rightful owner based on his possessory interest in the land. However, because the land was held in trust by the government, Williams’ ownership functioned like a possessory interest while the government maintained legal title over Sue the T-Rex. Williams would later require government permission to sell Sue for $8.4 million.

In vitro fertilization (IVF) is a fertilization process through which people implant a fertilized ovum into the uterus and is often used for people who have struggled to conceive. My parents used IVF to have my brother and me after facing a number of fertility struggles in the early 2000s. However, the question of who actually owns the pre-embryo prior to implantation can be complex, especially in cases of divorce. Embryos that have not been implanted into a uterus, pre-embryos, seem to sit in an intermediate space between property and individual rights because of their “potential for life”. For the sake of this article, pre-embryos will be treated as property.

California Senate Bill 79 was signed into law by Governor Gavin Newsom on October 10, 2025. The law overrides local zoning restrictions to permit higher-density residential construction, up to nine stories, within a half mile of qualifying transit stops, and is scheduled to take effect on July 1, 2026. The bill is an example of California’s broader effort to address housing shortages and promote transit-oriented development.

In 2007, Barry B. Benson, voiced by Jerry Seinfeld in the beloved Bee Movie, made history by arguing his rights as an insect before the New York Superior Court, claiming that honey industry actors conspired to defraud Benson’s certified class, “all bees of the world.” Today, in real-world combined efforts among biologists, lawyers, and the bees they seek to protect, the stingless bees of Peru have the opportunity to follow in Barry’s illustrious footsteps, symbolizing an important shift away from an anthropocentric legal practice and toward one of biocentrism.

I was raised in a ranching town within a small HOA-regulated neighborhood. As a kid, I spent countless afternoons playing tennis on our neighborhood court. Just beyond the court stretched an open field that all the homeowners shared as common property. But the portion of the field closest to the court told a different story. One of our neighbors had enclosed it with a fence, built horse stables, and kept his horses there. He maintained the enclosure, controlled access to it, and used the space as if it were his own.

In the 2026 Olympic gold medal men’s ice hockey game, American player Jack Hughes scored the overtime game-winning goal, clinching the gold medal for Team USA. His goal was reminiscent of when Sidney Crosby, captain of Team Canada, scored the “golden goal” in overtime against Team USA in 2010. However, these stories diverge beyond just the country each represented because the respective national heroes disagree about who should own the infamous pucks for each of those goals. Crosby said that he never even thought about owning the puck and was simply happy to have scored the goal. He was delighted that the puck would rest in the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto. Hughes, on the other hand, believes that he should receive the puck because he is the one who scored the goal.

Western Apache Natives know the land at Oak Flat, also known as Chi’chil Biłdagoteel, in Phoenix, Arizona as part of their home. The natives have used the land for centuries to conduct ceremonies, which are part of their religious and tribal belief that are tied specifically to Oak Flat. The problem that comes from Oak Flat is that the land is situated on top of a massive deposit of copper, around 20 million tons of it valued at around $200 billion. In 1955, President Eisenhower closed off all mining operations on Oak Flat, which was later reaffirmed in 1971, and since then, the area has been used by the tribe and other ancestors with the guarantee that their rights to the land would not be intruded upon.

The alcohol industry has experienced ebbs and flows in recent years due to shifting consumer desires, tariff trouble, and more non-alcoholic beverage competitors. Despite these challenges, Buffalo Trace Distillery located in Frankfort, Kentucky remains a stronghold amid a global decline in alcohol sales. The distillery is one of the oldest and most well-known in the United States. Famous for its high-end bourbon, the distillery has been around for over 200 years and has grown along with our nation: overcoming prohibition, war, and in recent years, historic flooding. Its offerings include the flagship Buffalo Trace Bourbon, and specialty brands such as Blanton's Single Barrel, Eagle Rare, W.L. Weller, E.H. Taylor, Jr., and the highly sought after Pappy Van Winkle.

In 2019, a single-family home located at the entrance of my suburban neighborhood was bought to be rented to families looking to live in the county’s best school district. Previously inhabited by a quiet couple who worked hard to keep their yard presentable, the home was now victim to a slew of families moving in and out on a yearly basis. The third rental tenant to occupy the home in 2021 made it immediately evident that yard upkeep was not one of their priorities. Three months into their rental period, the tenants allegedly experienced a bedbug infestation, prompting them to burn their mattresses in their backyard. Placing them only a few feet from the home, they doused the mattresses in gasoline and watched them, along with the grass and the back of the house, burst into flames.