How Can They Do That? By: Belinda Williams
Cypress, California filed suit to condemn a church in order to take the property and replace it with a Costco because private use would pay more taxes than a tax-free church. St. Paul, Michigan took a car dealership in order to replace it with a Best Buy. Bremerton, Washington removed an
80 year old woman from her home for the purpose of expanding a sewer
plant, but the city actually gave her home to an auto dealership.
How can they do that? The answer is eminent domain. It allows government to seize a citizen’s private property without the owner’s consent for public use or use by a ‘third party’. Owners are compensated, but not always fairly. Eminent domain is not limited to real property, it can also include personal property such as supplies and franchises as well as intangible property such as contracts, patents, trade secrets, and copyrights.
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution requires that just compensation be paid for property that is taken for public use. The idea of ‘public use’ outlined in the Constitution was strictly meant for use by the public. Unfortunately, this has been subverted to include private use for profit.
In the free market of the United States it would be most appropriate to make a competitive offer to purchase property before resorting to eminent domain. If eminent domain must be invoked, then no less than fair market value should be given. In reality, what takes place in some instances is inappropriate and ‘legalized criminal’ behavior. State provisions regarding eminent domain vary ...