GULFPORT, Miss.—Ocean Springs property owners, whose homes and businesses were labeled by the city as slum and blighted without their knowledge, today appealed the dismissal of their federal lawsuit. Earlier this month, U.S. District Judge Taylor McNeel granted the city’s motion to dismiss but also rejected the city’s claim that the case was moot after the city rescinded the blight designation. Owners of homes and businesses, and a church are represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ).
“Should the recent court decision stand, Mississippi government will be able to keep branding neighborhoods as slums in secret,” said IJ Senior Vice President and Litigation Director Dana Berliner. “The U.S. Constitution protects everyone’s right to due process. We need to appeal to protect these owners and people across the state from secret slum and blight designations.”
Much of Ocean Springs’ historically Black district, with homes handed down from generation to generation, was targeted in a 2023 redevelopment plan. A slum and blight label allows cities to take property by eminent domain, and the only opportunity to challenge that label is 10 days after the city labels it. But without any notice, the owners learned about the label months later—far too late to appeal the designation.
The court was persuaded by the fact that, although they could no longer challenge slum and blight (the strongest defense against eminent domain), they could still bring other (weaker) defenses. The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider the case in the coming months with oral argument likely later this year.