Governments worldwide have commonly possessed the power to seize the property of private citizens for various reasons throughout time. In the United States, the Revolutionary War was fought partly because England was using this power arbitrarily to take the property of American colonists. After America gained its independence, Congress ratified the 4th Amendment, which forbade the federal or state governments from seizing private property from citizens and residents without just cause. The government’s power to take private property for just cause is generally referred to today as the power of eminent domain.
Under Rhode Island state law, the state or municipalities are entitled to take public property from a citizen if the taking is to serve a “public purpose,” and the citizen is fairly compensated for the taking at market value. State laws also allow government agencies and subdivisions to take private property for “economic development” purposes, however, such a taking must be compensated at 150% of the market value of the property. A group of Rhode Island property owners recently made a claim before a state court, requesting that they be compensated at the increased 150% rate based on a municipality’s taking of their private property to expand a local airport.
According to the facts discussed in the recently released judicial opinion, the plaintiffs in the case are a group of property owners whose property is situated adjacent to an existing airport. The airport and city officials proposed to expand the airport, using eminent domain powers to seize the plaintiffs’ property to complete the expansion. The plaintiffs were offered compensation for the fair market value of the property. In response to the offer, the plaintiffs instead demand compensation for 150% of the property’s fair market value, arguing that the airport construction was an economic development purpose that entitled them to the increased compensation.