News & Events

With a bit of irony, the sale of 38 acres of Jacksonville Port Authority ("Jaxport") waterfront property to Keystone Coal Company and related entities (“Keystone”) closed on March 1, 2010 closing the final chapter of an eminent domain battle that began in 2005. Keystone purchased Jaxport’s property adjacent to Keystone’s 70 acre parcel for $13,204,844.00 under a global settlement agreement. Keystone’s 70 acres was the subject of Jaxport’s attempted...

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Owner's Counsel Attorney Michael Rikon, on New York's definition of blight, Eminent Domain Changes Seek to Limit State's Power to Seize Property, by David King, Gotham Gazette February 4, 2010

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The Owners' Counsel of America (OCA) will honor two journalists in 2010 with the Crystal Eagle Award for their remarkable journalism and unwavering effort to be critical and objective, specifically with respect to their investigative reportage and balanced analysis regarding the government’s use of eminent domain.

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Americans became more familiar with the government's power and use of eminent domain following the 2005 Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London, however, for New Yorkers eminent domain has become personal. The use of eminent domain in New York State, and particularly in metro New York, has been heavily discussed, analyzed and criticized in recent news, specifically with the debate surrounding the planned Atlantic Yards...

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In a post Friday at Atlantic Yards Report, Norman Oder quotes Senator Bill Perkins at the NY Senate hearing on eminent domain reform, "This is not like instant rice... it's going to be an uphill battle, we're going to win, without a doubt, but I don't want us to think this is going to happen overnight… This is a struggle that is going to require our...

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The Senate Standing Committee on Corporations, Authorities and Commissions, chaired by Senator Bill Perkins, conducted a public hearing yesterday (Tuesday, January 5, 2010) on eminent domain abuse in New York. The hearing entitled "Unconstitutional: What the Appellate Division’s Eminent Domain Ruling Means for the Columbia Expansion," focused upon the recent Appellate Division ruling against the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC) in the proposed condemnation for expansion of Columbia University,...

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Kudos to Michael D. D. White (Noticing New York) for his amazing post (A Christmas Eve Story of Alternative Realities: The Fight Not To Go To Pottersville (Or Ratnerville) 12.24.09). White posted an eloquent adaptation of Frank Capra's 1947 film It's a Wonderful Life suggesting that if the movie were taking place in today's New York, the lead character, George Bailey, would find similar monopolies and abuses of power...

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Last month, Roanoke Judge William D. Broadhurst granted Roanoke Redevelopment and Housing Authority's (RRHA) petition to take private property owned by Jay and Stephanie Burkholder (B&B Holdings, LLC) using the Authority's power of eminent domain. Judge Broadhurst indicated in his November 12, 2009 correspondence to counsel that although evidence had been presented by B&B's attorneys which "clearly suggests to the Court that the City was responding to pressure from...

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As we noted here previously, the U.S. Supreme Court heard oral arguments yesterday in the most recent property rights case to go before the bench Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dep't of Environmental Protection.

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The Supreme Court has released the unofficial transcript for today's argument in Stop the Beach Renourishment, Inc. v. Florida Dept. of Environmental Protection. A pdf of the transcript is available here. More to follow once we have had time to read it.

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