Here's a short but interesting one from the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit. It isn't exactly about the usual topics we cover, but is interesting enough that we thought we would post it. The case involves old deeds (dated between 1922 and 1957) in the Adams County, Ohio recorder's office, which contain unenforceable racially restrictive covenants. (You remember back in law school where you learned that these things can't be enforced because the Supreme Court in Shelley v. Kraemer, 334 U.S. 1 (1948) prohibited courts from doing so, even if the contracts were private.) The plaintiffs in Mason v. Adams County Recorder, No. 17-3605 (Aug. 28, 2018) objected to the objectionable deed language remaining on public record in the recorder's office: Mason maintains that the practice of county recorders to permit documents with restrictive covenants in the chain of title to be recorded or maintained and then make these documents available to the…
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