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ARLINGTON, Va.—In 2023, Macon-Bibb County demolished Eric Arnold’s house—tearing down the house that Eric was actively and carefully renovating into rubble and then carting that rubble away—with no court proceeding, no notice, and no financial compensation. That violated Eric’s constitutional rights to notice and a meaningful opportunity to be heard. To vindicate those rights and others, Eric has teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to sue Macon-Bibb County in state court.
“Property rights are the bedrock of American society,” said IJ Attorney Christie Hebert. “To arbitrarily destroy Eric’s house without even the courtesy of letting him know is wrong ethically and wrong under the law.”
There was no reason to demolish Eric’s house. While he still had work to do, the yard was neat, the exterior was clean, the house was locked up, and, most importantly, it was in a vastly improved state of repair compared to when he purchased it. But the county demolished it anyway as part of its aggressive blight fight.
The demolition of Eric’s house wasn’t a one-off occurrence. Over the past three years, Macon-Bibb County has demolished over 800 houses that it has designated as blighted through a fast-tracked, secret code enforcement process that completely avoids court proceedings and deprives property owners of a meaningful chance to protect their property. In some cases, like Eric’s, the county doesn’t even bother to notify the owners before knocking their house down.
Full story:
“Property rights are the bedrock of American society,” said IJ Attorney Christie Hebert. “To arbitrarily destroy Eric’s house without even the courtesy of letting him know is wrong ethically and wrong under the law.”
There was no reason to demolish Eric’s house. While he still had work to do, the yard was neat, the exterior was clean, the house was locked up, and, most importantly, it was in a vastly improved state of repair compared to when he purchased it. But the county demolished it anyway as part of its aggressive blight fight.
The demolition of Eric’s house wasn’t a one-off occurrence. Over the past three years, Macon-Bibb County has demolished over 800 houses that it has designated as blighted through a fast-tracked, secret code enforcement process that completely avoids court proceedings and deprives property owners of a meaningful chance to protect their property. In some cases, like Eric’s, the county doesn’t even bother to notify the owners before knocking their house down.
Full story:
Property Owner Sues Macon-Bibb County Over Unconstitutional Home Demolition Practice - Institute for Justice
ARLINGTON, Va.—In 2023, Macon-Bibb County demolished Eric Arnold’s house—tearing down the house that Eric was actively and carefully renovating into rubble and then carting that […]