Court Opinion

ID: 9605280
Source: CourtListenerOpinion
Date Created: 2023-08-22 02:33:06.177414+00
Date Added: 2024-06-11T18:02:26.982729
License: Public Domain

Undercofler, Presiding Justice,
dissenting.
It is not right; it is not fair; it is not due process; and it is not constitutional for the government, or a public utility, to take your land without fully compensating you. In this country, a basic freedom is the right to own and possess land. When you are forced to surrender it for public good, you must be offered its fair price. If you are forced to sue to obtain its fair price then you must also recover the reasonable costs, including attorney fees, of waging the battle; otherwise, you are not fully compensated and have been mistreated, however unintentionally. For example if the state or utility offers you $10,000 for your land and a jury finds it real value to be $25,000 out of which you must pay your costs of litigation, including attorney fees, you have remaining a sum less than the real value of your land. Thus, you have been penalized for having to sue to enforce your right to be fully compensated by the government or utility whose expenses, including attorney fees, are paid by your taxes and your utility rates. The majority of this court holds to the contrary and I dissent.