Here's a couple of editorials about the Ramsey case, recently decided by the Virginia Supreme Court. [Disclosure: we filed an amicus brief in support of the Ramseys in that case.]
- In "Sandbagging, exposed," the Richmond Times-Dispatch editorial board writes: "Around the country, states that want to take people’s land will sometimes pull an underhanded stunt: If the owners don’t accept the state’s first offer, then the state will produce a second appraisal that claims the property is worth much less.
That’s exactly what the Virginia Department of Transportation did to James and Janet Ramsey when it exercised eminent domain to take part of their land for an off-ramp. The first appraiser pegged the value of the land at more than $246,000. The Ramseys declined. After the first appraiser retired, VDOT brought in another who said the property was worth only $92,127."
- In "High court: VDOT's bullying must stop," the Virginian-Pilot editorial board writes, "Virginia's Supreme Court on Thursday corrected a particularly egregious wrong done to a Virginia Beach couple during their tenacious, six-year fight with the Virginia Department of Transportation. The unanimous ruling should help protect other property owners from a common governmental overreach."
Check them out.
