LAUSR

Who owns the shore of the ocean or of a large inland lake? In 2015, Don and Bobbie Gunderson, whose house in Long Beach (IN) looked out onto the southern shore of Lake Michigan, brought suit against the State of Indiana seeking a declaratory judgment that they owned their beach above the fluctuating waterline of the lake. The suit was prompted by a 2010 Long Beach ordinance affirming Indiana law that the beach, up to what is called the “ordinary high water mark” (OHWM),1 was public property accessible to all. The Gundersons argued that the state was taking away their private property without paying them compensation, as is required by the U.S. Constitution.2 The Gundersons ostensibly had a strong case. They surely had paid much more for their property because of its lakefront location, and had since paid higher property taxes as well. Further, they had maintained the beach as their own. Their deed also seemed to back up their contention. But they lost in court, by summary judgment, at every level of the Indiana judicial system, and their attempt to interest the U.S. Supreme Court in the case also failed.3