Virginia Libertarian

Ohio Court Rejects Eminent Domain
Ohio Court Rejects Eminent Domain

The Ohio Supreme Court ruled unanimously on Wednesday that economic development isn’t a sufficient reason under the state constitution to justify taking homes, putting a halt to a $125 million project of offices, shops, and restaurants in a Cincinnati suburb that officials said would create jobs and add tax revenue.

The case was the first challenge of property rights laws to reach a state high court since the U.S. Supreme Court last summer allowed municipalities to seize homes for use by a private developer.

“For the individual property owner, the appropriation is not simply the seizure of a house,” Justice Maureen O’Connor wrote in a case that pitted the city of Norwood against two couples trying to save their homes. “It is the taking of a home - the place where ancestors toiled, where families were raised, where memories were made.”

More good news on the private property front.  Ohio has taken a good step in protecting it’s citizes from seizure of their property for handing over to another private party for development.  Hopefully this trend will continue.  I’d like to see another case make it to the SCOTUS and see if the new court will overturn the Kelo vs. New London decision, but I don’t think any state supremes at this point are going to side with the government on anything resembling this.

This entry was posted on Thursday, July 27th, 2006 at 9:45 am and is filed under National. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.