IJ Arizona Chapter Seeks Immediate Appellate Review Of Property Rights Case

Phoenix-The Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter vows to appeal an adverse decision by the Maricopa County Superior Court yesterday in which the court rejected the pleas of Mesa small-businessman Randy Bailey in his effort to keep his business. The City of Mesa seeks to take Bailey’s brake shop not for a public use, but for a private development—an Ace Hardware store. The case, argued on Bailey’s behalf by the Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter, could have a long-range impact on the private property rights of all Arizonans.

“We are disappointed in the ruling, but this is only the first step on a road that we’re certain will end in the Arizona Supreme Court with a victory for the private property rights of all Arizonans,” declared Clint Bolick, the Institute’s vice president and national director of state chapters.

The Institute for Justice, which litigates against eminent domain abuse nationwide, immediately filed an application for an order staying the Order of Immediate Possession while its attorneys seek appellate review.

“Arizona’s founders sought to prevent exactly this type of abuse of power when they enshrined in our State’s Constitution that ‘private property shall not be taken for private use,’” said Timothy Keller, a staff attorney with the Institute for Justice.

The Institute for Justice Arizona Chapter will promptly file a Special Action Petition in the Arizona Court of Appeals seeking to have the Order of Immediate Possession vacated and requesting a declaration that the City of Mesa’s use of eminent domain exceeds the bounds of Arizona’s constitutional protection of private property rights.