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Illinois Supreme Court Stops Eminent Domain Abuse
Southwestern Illinois Development Authority v. National City Environmental
IJ Helps End Eminent Domain Bounty Hunting in Illinois (IJ amicus)
In a landmark ruling, the Illinois Supreme Court struck down an attempt by the government to use eminent domain to take property from one private owner to increase the profits of his neighbor and the tax revenues generated from them. The Southwestern Illinois Development Authority (SWIDA) condemned land owned by National City Environmental to give the property to the Gateway racetrack next door for additional parking. The Institute for Justice filed a friend of the court brief on behalf of the property owner.
The project started when SWIDA advertised that it would condemn land for “economic development.” On the form to be filled out, the applicant could check “public use” or “private use.” For “private use” condemnations, SWIDA charged a commission, amounting to about six percent of the value. Gateway had attempted to purchase the land from National City (an auto scrap yard and an environmentally sound landfill), but National City did not want to sell. So Gateway asked SWIDA to take it through eminent domain instead. In court, Gateway admitted that it could build a parking structure on its own property but that the construction would have been more expensive than using the power of government and paying its $50,000 commission to SWIDA.
In 2001, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld the taking and the bounty awarded to the government agency. However, in a stunning reversal, a newly elected State Supreme Court reheard the case and ruled the following year that such methods and takings were indeed unconstitutional.
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