City tries to grab properties simply ‘to give it to someone else,’ now court has final say

By Bob Unruh

Laws across American give local, state and national government authorities that private citizens don’t have.

One of those is the power of eminent domain, which is when a government confiscates a private property and uses it for a “public purpose.”

Sometimes the definition of that “public” goal is a little clouded, as governments sometimes turn confiscated property over to another private owner for his or her use.

Multiple court fights have developed over the practice, and there have been many widely disparate results.

But one case in New Jersey has come down clearly on the side of private property owners.

City officials in Perth Amboy there wanted to take over two properties, a rental serving several families and a successful tire shop, simply “to give it to someone else.”

According to the Institute for Justice, Judge Benjamin Bucca Jr. in Superior Court in Middlesex County, ruled in favor of the arguments brought by Honey Meerzon and Luis Romero.

City officials had claimed the properties were “blighted” and that gave them permission to take them away.