This is the first of two posts today out of the Tar Heel State (here is the other one).
North Carolina lawyers no doubt knew this, but we can't say that we did: the North Carolina Constitution currently does not have a provision that mirrors the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause.
According to these reports ("Eminent Domain bill passes committee" and "NC Lawmakers Look To Restrict Land Seizures With Constitutional Amendment"), the N.C. legislature is considering a measure to add the following text to the state constitution:
Sec. 19.1. Eminent domain.Private property shall not be taken by eminent domain except for a public use. Just compensation shall be paid, and shall be determined by a jury at the request of any party."
See the entire bill, and the related proposed amendment to state statutes (which takes out the words "use or benefit" from the statute which grants condemnation power, so that instead of reading "public use or benefit," it will read "public use") here.
Now does this mean that public and private entities in North Carolina that wish to take property currently have a free hand, and that takings can be for private use,and that there's no requirement of just compensation? Of course not. North Carolina condemnors are bound by the Fifth Amendment, those statutes noted above, and common law inverse condemnation claims. We also understand that the "law of the land" provision, section 19 of the N.C. Constitution ("No person shall be taken, imprisoned, or disseized of his freehold, liberties, or privileges, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any manner deprived of his life, liberty, or property, but by the law of the land.") is read as limiting the power of eminent domain.
But it would be nice to get it in writing in the constitution, as they say.
More: "Another Way to Fight Eminent Domain Abuse" from the Carolina Journal.
