PLF seeks Supreme Court review of federal eminent domain abuse in the Everglades

Pacific Legal Foundation asks the U.S. Supreme Court to hear a challenge to the federal government's abuse of eminent domain when it condemned private property to expand Everglades National Part. End Quote

Miami, FL (1888PressRelease) November 04, 2009 - The U.S. Supreme Court should hear the case of Florida resident Gilbert Fornatora, who was victimized by abusive government tactics when federal officials condemned his property as part of the expansion of Everglades National Park.

So argue Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys, in a recently filed petition to the High Court on behalf of Fornatora. Headquartered in Sacramento, with its Atlantic Center office in Stuart, Florida, PLF is the leading legal watchdog for property rights. The case is 480 Acres of Land and Gilbert A. Fornatora v. United States. The complaint may be found at Pacific Legal Foundation's Web site: www.pacificlegal.org.

"When government takes property, the Constitution requires compensation that is just, not merely what the government thinks it wants to pay," said Steven Geoffrey Gieseler, managing attorney of the PLF Atlantic Center office. "Federal manipulation of the eminent domain process prevented Gilbert Fornatora from being justly compensated. We're asking the Supreme Court to review this case in order to halt eminent domain abuse by federal officials, and to uphold the just compensation principle for all property owners, all across the country."

Gilbert Fornatora acquired the property at issue (480 acres in Dade County, Florida, adjacent to Everglades National Park) in the 1950s and 1960s.

"The first example of federal abuse of the eminent domain process began in the late 1970s, when the federal government began laying the groundwork to later condemn the Fornatora property for expansion of Everglades National Park," said Gieseler. "Federal officials leaned on local authorities to tighten zoning, in order to lower the market value and the compensation that the government would have to pay."

Expansion of the park was formally authorized by Congress in 1989. "When it came time for the eminent domain process to begin, federal officials embarked on more manipulation," Gieseler continued. "They delayed all proceedings against those landowners, including Mr. Fornatora, who were represented by private attorneys. Instead, the feds moved first against landowners who did not have legal counsel and were not able to present testimony and evidence for higher payments. Once their land had been condemned, the government then used these low-ball prices as precedent to pay owners like Mr. Fornatora less than what they were truly owed."

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