Sen. Harmon: Eminent domain ruling doesn’t warrant the ‘hoopla’: Wednesday Journal (Oak Park & Oak Forest IL), 7/26/05

State Sen. Don Harmon said last week that the media attention being paid to the Supreme Court’s recent eminent domain ruling is overblown.

Harmon said he hasn’t read the entire ruling, but that it is not much different from what has been allowed by Illinois state law for years. Municipalities may use eminent domain to purchase properties they will use as part of a development plan. The process is public, he said.

"I don’t think the hoopla is quite warranted by the facts," Harmon told the crowd of mostly local business men and women and community leaders gathered at the Carleton Hotel Friday morning to hear the senator. The event was hosted by the Business and Civic Council of Oak Park.

Harmon said the General Assembly might address eminent domain laws to restrict how local governments can use condemnation to obtain properties for development.

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