Eminent in Domain in St. Louis: Reaching New Lows
The targets appear to be an absolute PR nightmare for those who did the filing, and even include a lot dead people (not kidding), but they went ahead anyway (HT Amy Welborn). It also looks like it was done to beat the effective date of tougher eminent domain legislation passed by the State of Missouri (bolds are mine):
St. Louis’ redevelopment agency sued a convent, a saint, a nun and an elderly woman in a wheelchair who has a 999-year lease on Friday, seeking to use eminent domain to condemn a property in the Ice House District north of Soulard.
City officials hope the area will be a hip entertainment district one day, but first they have to remove stubborn landowners and tenants.
The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, says the city’s Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority has been unable to agree on a price for 1119-1127 South Broadway, owned by the Convent of the Sacred Heart.
….. The suit also names property owners from centuries ago and their heirs, including John Mullanphy, said to be St. Louis’ first millionaire, a nun and “Philipini Duchesne.” The suit appears to be referring to St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne, who founded a school for the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a cabin in St. Charles in 1818, according to the Vatican. She died in 1852 and was canonized in 1988.
….. An outcry after the (US Supreme Court’s Kelo) decision prompted new laws in Missouri and Illinois seeking to curb the practice, but a provision awarding a 50 percent bonus over fair market value doesn’t apply. That applies only to those who have owned the property for more than 50 years, and for suits filed after Dec. 31, 2006.
This one bears watching, especially if there are attempts to resurrect some of the defendants or question their virtue. (/deadpan)
