Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition

Constitutional Amendment

A group of Missouri property rights activists has formed Missouri Citizens for Property Rights to place two constitutional amendments on November's ballot. Last week, a special MEDAC committee studied the language and formally endorsed it.

The amendments would:

Limit the use of eminent domain to “the state or political subdivisions of the state whose officials are directly responsible to elected officials”.

Limiting the use of eminent domain to the traditional, truly public, uses of property by prohibiting the taking of property for the use or ownership of private entities. Provisions for regulated utilities ensure that they will continue to be able to provide services.

Allow the ordinary free market considerations when establishing “just compensation”.

Permit the original owner, or his heirs, the first opportunity to buy back property taken for a public use and later sold.

Eliminate the practice of using eminent domain to deal with “blighted, substandard, or insanitary” areas. This practice has resulted in the taking of non-problem properties along with the offending properties. The amendment will change the focus to that of protecting the property rights of the neighbors of the offending properties rather then punishing them along with the owners of the “blight”.

We've added MO-CPR to our blogroll.

Eminent Domain Abuse Map

The Institute for Justice has created an interactive map of eminent domain abuse across the nation. Zooming in on Missouri, we can see abuses across the state--more than a dozen in all.

My only criticism of the map is that it massively understates the scope of the problem. As alarming as the map is (with more than a dozen cases in the St. Louis area alone) the problem is even more widespread than the map indicates. I personally have talked with several different individuals facing eminent domain abuse whose cases are not represented on the map.