Author Archives: admin

Eminent Domain Trends in Presidential Election: Trump Loves Justice Thomas. Thomas Doesn't Love Kelo. Trump Longingly Loves Kelo.

In South Carolina Trump shared his opinion of Supreme Court Justices. In short:

  • Roberts, not so much love
  • Thomas,  lots of love

Reason took the opportunity to point a slew of inconsistencies:

  • Thomas wrote a strong dissent to the controversial, and much maligned, Kelo decision
    • Tomas wrote, “It [the majority opinion] encourages ‘those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development.”
      firms’ to victimize the…

INTERIM Civil Asset Forfeiture Yields $1M per year for 1 City. How 1 City Lost its Revenue & Ignored Reform Laws.

Civil Asset Forfeiture generates more than $1 million in revenue per year for The City of Albuquerque.

Is this $1 Million tied to convicted criminals? No. There were no criminal convictions for any of the affected property owners.

What does Albuquerque use the funding for? It pays the salaries of the people seizing the property. 

How did the program in Albuquerque go awry? A city attorney publicly referred to asset forefeiture as a ““gold mine” and property seized through civil…

Lege Trend: Constitutional Right to Attorney Fees in Eminent Domain

A state constitution guarantees attorney fees in eminent domain? Yes, the Florida constitution does.

What’s the goal behind this provision? A landowner should not be placed in a worse position after eminent domain

Can this provision go awry? Some Florida attorneys believe so.

What loophole exists for constitutional protection for attorney fees in eminent domain proceedings? When a condemning entity does not play fair and forces needless and endless litigation. The Florida courts…

What Happens when the Feds & a State Join Forces to Condemn City Owned Property

The Feds are using eminent domain? Where? The EPA supports  condemning  87 pieces of city owned property in Margate, New Jersey as part of Governor Christi’s Dune Protection Plan.

Any fireworks from Governor Christi? Yes, he called the city “selfish” for opposing his state beach protection plan

How do the Feds tie into this? Funding for the beach protection is coming from the $3.5 billion Hurricane Sandy aid bill

Philly.com | Margate, state argue over dune plan in court

Private Property Rights. Trend: Water Agencies Compel Owners to Fix Pipes. 1 Local Gov. Solution. 1 Statewide Legislative Solution.

Utilities are targeting  private property owners pipes to:

  • repair old and leaky  pipes
  • to prevent  big problems like sinkholes and overflows of sewage into waterways
    • which leads to water plants treating more water than necessary, and driving up costs for ratepayers

Why are utilities targeting the pipes that are out of their control?

  • water utilities are struggling to reduce costs
  • utilities are having a hard time complying with federal clean water mandates

What programs have…

INTERIM Private property Rights. Civil Asset Forfeiture. 100 Editorials. Texas Legislative Reference Library.

What’s happening? The Texas Legislative Reference Library circulated Civil Asset Reform Information.

What group is putting out the civil asset reform information? Institute for Justice.

What’s the information say? over 100 editorials nation wide are calling for civil asset forfeiture reform.

Why does this matter? Interim Charges call for reviewing civil asset laws. TPPF has been calling for civil asset reform for a couple years.

Why is this a Texas issue? Local governmental entities…

Art as a Means to Stop Eminent Domain by Pipelines

Art to stop eminent domain, who came up with that? eco-artist Aviva Rahmani’s Blued Trees

What’s the goal of using art to stop eminent domain?  To prevent private corporations from gaining eminent domain for natural gas pipelines on private property

How will art stop eminent domain? 1990 Visual Artists Rights Acts (VARA) may provide extra protection to landowners

Cornell Daily Sun | Aviva Rahmani’s Blued Trees & the Fight Against Pipelines

 

Private Property Rights. Lege Trend: HOA Reform. 5 Point Focus from the East.

South Carolina activists are pushing for Home Owner Association reform. The Legislature has a speical committee studying HOA reform. 

The 7 Hot HOA Topics that stand to be reformed:

  • HOAs collecting fees and not performing basic maintenance like:  clearing  garbage; maintaining a holding pond, or enforcing neighborhood rules.
  • Improve transperancy in HOA funding use
  • Improved conflict of interest standards to keep HOA boards and association management completely separate
  • strengthen HOA…

Private Gain from Eminent Domain Sparks Documentary. Top 3 Concerns from Land Owners

A documentary about a pipeline that would start in Belton, South Carolina, run through Georgia and end in Jacksonville is in the works. The top 3 concerns that emerged from landowners are:

  • A private company using eminent domain to increase profits
  • The pipeline will run through 3 states in areas that are rural and aging, increasing the chance that fewer landowners will be financially able to hire attorneys
  • Land has been in some families for 100s of years.

WAGTV | Local documentary…