Eminent domain: the nationwide epidemic

Fighting the good fight

[Reprinted from Issues & Views October 6, 2003]

Issues & Views has commented a dozen or more times on the splendid work of the Institute for Justice, a public interest law firm. [See here, here, and here.] So, it was gratifying to watch, on September 28, CBS's 60 Minutes piece, in which IJ's Dana Berliner and Scott Bullock described the outrageous abuses of eminent domain now taking place around the country.

The 60 Minutes segment centered around a couple, Jim and Joanne Saleet, who, for 38 years, have lived in the town of Lakewood, Ohio. The Saleets' home, along with others in their quiet, tidy suburban neighborhood, has been targeted for elimination, to make way for the construction of expensive condominiums. This new upscale housing will provide the town with lots more tax dollars, which is the only reason for the projected destruction of over 50 existing properties.

Following are excerpts from the transcript:

Just about everyone knows that under a process called eminent domain, the government can (and does) seize private property for public use - to build a road or a courthouse. But did you know the government can also seize your land for private use if they can prove that doing it will serve what's called "the public good"?

Cities across the country have been using eminent domain to force people off their land, so that private developers can build more expensive homes and offices that will pay more in property taxes than the buildings they're replacing.

Mike Wallace, the show's host, then discussed the plight of the Saleets:

The City of Lakewood is trying to use eminent domain to force the Saleets out to make way for more expensive condominiums. But the Saleets are telling the town, "Hell no! They won't go."

Jim Saleet worked in the pharmaceutical industry, paid off his house and then retired. Now, he and his wife plan to spend the rest of their days there, and pass their house on to their children. But Lakewood's mayor, Madeleine Cain, has other plans. She wants to tear down the Saleets' home, plus 55 homes around it, along with four apartment buildings and more than a dozen businesses.

Why? So that private developers can build high-priced condos, and a high-end shopping mall, and thus raise Lakewood's property tax base.

The mayor told 60 Minutes that she sought out a developer for the project because Lakewood's aging tax base has been shrinking and the city simply needs more money. The Saleets live in an area called Scenic Park, and because it is so scenic, it's a prime place to build upscale condominiums. With great views, over the Rocky River, those condos will be a cinch to sell.

Using a strategy that is now common to federal, state and municipal governments, the city has declared the Saleets' clean, well-groomed property "blighted." In this case, according to the city's new standards, "blight" means a home that does not have three bedrooms, two baths, an attached two-car garage, and central air conditioning. Since almost all the homes in Lakewood lack these features, they can all be condemned as "blighted." As pointed out by Jim Saleet, according to these criteria, the homes of the mayor and all seven council members are blighted. On questioning by Wallace, the mayor sheepishly admitted that Saleet was correct.

Institute for Justice attorneys Berliner and Bullock remarked on the widespread and fraudulent use by governments of eminent domain:

"This is a nation-wide epidemic," says Berliner. "We have documented more than 10,000 instances of government taking property from one person to give it to another in just the last five years."

"It is fundamentally wrong, and contrary to the Constitution for the government to take property from one private owner, and hand it over to another private owner, just because the government thinks that person is going to make more productive use of the land," says Bullock.

"Everyone knows that property can be taken for a road. But nobody thinks that property can be taken to give it to their neighbor or the large business down the street for their economic benefit," adds Berliner. "People are shocked when they hear that this is going on around the country."

And this isn't happening just in small towns. In New York City, just a few blocks from Times Square, New York State has forced a man to sell a corner that his family owned for more than 100 years. And what's going up instead? A courthouse? A school? Nope. The new headquarters of The New York Times. . . .

Back in Lakewood, Ohio, Jim and Joanne Saleet are still waiting for their court decision. Most of their neighbors have agreed to sell if the project goes ahead. But the Saleets, plus a dozen others, are hanging tough.

"I thought I bought this place. But I guess I just leased it, until the city wants it," says Jim Saleet. "That's what makes me very angry. This is my dream home. And I'm gonna fight for it."

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