SCOTUS Issues ‘Major Victory for Property Rights’ in Forest Service Dispute: Attorney

Associate Justice Sonia Sotomayor poses during a group photo of the Justices at the Supreme Court in Washington, on April 23, 2021. Erin Schaff/Pool via Reuters

The Supreme Court ruled 6–3 in favor of Montana property owners who claim the U.S. Forest Service cheated them by unilaterally changing the terms of a decades-old public access agreement affecting their private land.

The March 28 decision split the court’s six-member conservative wing. Three members sided with the property owners; the other three sided with the federal government.