March 28, 2006
Leading expert on land use law to speak at Clark April 6
Worcester, Mass. - Clark University's Urban Development and Social
Change (UDSC) Program will present a free, public lecture on "Lawyers,
Judges, and the Public Interest: the Role of the Courts as Instigators of Social
Change," by John M. Payne, a leading expert and litigator on affordable
housing, zoning and land use law, at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, April 6, in Grace Conference
Room, Higgins University Center.
Professor Payne is the Distinguished Service Professor and Justice Frederick Hall Scholar at Rutgers University Law School, Newark. He is the UDSC 2006 Visiting Urban Practitioner at Clark.
Professor Payne received the J.D. degree from Harvard Law School in 1970 and has taught at Rutgers Law School since 1971. He is the co-author of Planning and Control of Land Development, a widely used casebook now in its 6th edition. Professor Payne wrote an academic column for many years for the Real Estate Law Journal, has had articles published in numerous prestigious law reviews, and is currently an Editor of the Land Use and Zoning Law Digest.
In addition to his teaching and scholarly writings, Payne has for many years participated actively in public interest litigation involving housing issues. He was the co-counsel on behalf of lower-income plaintiffs in two major cases in the 1980s that originated from the landmark 1975 N.J. Supreme Court ruling in the Mount Laurel case, which held that all municipalities have a responsibility to provide a "fair share" of housing for their region's lower-income populations. He argued another significant case before the N.J. Supreme Court in 2002, which resulted in the Court reaffirming the Mount Laurel doctrine. He has also written numerous amicus briefs on behalf of the ACLU, the American Planning Association, and other public interest organizations in cases involving the constitutional rights of the homeless, inequities in state education finance, and racial discrimination in zoning.
John Payne has also worked outside the courtroom as an advocate for affordable housing. He served for many years as President of the Alliance for Affordable Housing, a statewide advocacy coalition credited with defeating a movement to undo New Jersey's gains in affordable housing policy by amending the state constitution, and he is an active member of the Coalition for Affordable Housing and the Environment, which seeks to establish common ground between environmentalists and housing advocates. In addition to his work on affordable housing, he has been a member of the Board of Directors of Preservation New Jersey, an education and advocacy organization that is the National Trust's "statewide partner" for New Jersey, and he is the past-President of the Frank Lloyd Wright Building Conservancy.
This event is co-sponsored by the Department of Government and the Law and
Society Program. For more information, contact the Government Department, 508-793-7155.