News & Events

Yesterday, Willets Point United Against Eminent Domain Abuse, a group of business and property owners dedicated to fighting eminent domain abuse in the neighborhood of Willets Point, in Queens, NY, met on the steps of City Hall to raise their concerns about the nomination of Judge Sonya Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. Willets Point United joins other property rights groups, legal scholars and experts in questioning Judge Sotomayor's position...

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Here are some things that caught our attention over the past week or so...

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Widener University Law Professor D. Benjamin Barros summarizes the property rights case (Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection) recently accepted for review by the Supreme Court in his post: What's at Stake in Stop the Beach Renourishment. (Our post about this case is available here.)

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Jun 16, 2009 - Port Chester, NY - The village of Port Chester publicly apologized to property owner William Brody for improperly seizing his commercial property by condemnation nearly in 1999. In a settlement that ended the decade-long battle between the property owner and the village, Port Chester paid the property owner $475,000, formally apologized from the steps of the Village Hall during a settlement signing ceremony and re-named...

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On Monday morning, the Supreme Court agreed to hear a Florida property rights case, Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection, et al. (08-1151). In granting certiorari, the Court will decide whether state legislation to renourish eroded beaches along the coast or lakeshores constitutes a regulatory taking or violates the Fifth Amendment when the boundary lines of waterfront private property is affected.

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Recently, the Institute for Justice released the following press release regarding the lawsuit filed by Texas Developer H. Walker Royall against author Carla Main and publisher, Encounter Books, regarding Ms. Main's book: Bulldozed: “Kelo,” Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land. The Institute for Justice represents Ms. Main and Encounter Books in this defamation suit. Bulldozed is available at Amazon and Barnes & Noble. For more about this...

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A story in the community news section of the Mooresville Tribune caught our attention today due to it's snappy title "Sewer line and cows don't mix, so town and farmer reach agreement." Of course, at first one might be interested in reviewing the article simply because it is about sewer lines and cows, but it was the second part of the title that caused us to stop and read....

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On Tuesday (May 5, 2009) a Cook County, Illinois jury awarded Ema Mae "Babe" Ahern $25 million for the taking of her 95-acre golf course and country club property in the Village of Evergreen Park on Chicago's South Side. News stories about the jury trial and the property owner, Babe Ahern, reported that Ms. Ahern has lived on the property since her birth 101 years ago and that she...

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In January the Wisconsin Law Journal featured an article entitled "DOT wants to cap legal fees for eminent domain takings." The author explained that WisDOT had proposed the changes as part of it's 2009-11 budget and as a result of an increase WisDOT had seen in the payouts between 2004 and 2007 resulting from taking private property by eminent domain. (See our 1/15/09 post here.)

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On Monday, Maryland's House voted 93-43 to pass emergency eminent domain legislation allowing the State to condemn the horse racing assets of Magna Entertainment. Yesterday, O'Malley signed SB 1072 (Chapter 3 of the 2009 Legislative Session) into law, effective April 14, 2009. SB 1072 authorizes "the State to acquire by purchase or condemnation the private property rights relating to the Pimlico Race Course, the track known as Laurel Park,...

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