Fwd: Victory for landowners! Court halts eminent domain
From: Scott Jackson (sjackzen46gmail.com)
Date: Fri, 13 Feb 2015 08:23:11 -0800 (PST)
A petition to sign, if you so desire.

Scott Jackson
sjackzen46 [at] gmail.com

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Kathy Hollander <Kathy [at] mn350.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 9:51 AM
Subject: Fwd: Victory for landowners! Court halts eminent domain
To: mn350-tar-sands-team <mn350-tar-sands-team [at] googlegroups.com>



---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska <jane [at] boldnebraska.org>
Date: Fri, Feb 13, 2015 at 7:37 AM
Subject: Victory for landowners! Court halts eminent domain
To: Kathy Hollander <Kath77holl77 [at] gmail.com>


 [image: Bold Nebraska] <http://boldnebraska.org?akid=75.39109.nKDYjr>

[image: Sign the petition]
<http://act.boldnebraska.org/sign/chambers/?t=1&akid=75.39109.nKDYjr>

Kathy --

Yesterday, landowners won a huge victory when a Holt County, Nebraska
District Court judge halted TransCanada's attempt to use eminent domain to
take their land for the Keystone XL export pipeline. Many thanks go out to
landowners' attorneys Dave Domina and Brian Jorde for their excellent work
fighting against eminent domain for private gain.

*What the ruling means:*

All of the eminent domain claims that TransCanada has filed against
landowners over the past month are now put on hold, until this case is
eventually heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court — in a timeline that could
take another 12 months, or longer.

*Chip in $10 to help fund the landowners' fight against eminent domain and
Keystone XL* <http://act.boldnebraska.org/go/206?t=2&akid=75.39109.nKDYjr>.

The last time landowners were before the Nebraska Supreme Court (*Thompson
v. Heineman*), 4 of the 7 justices agreed with us that the law (LB
1161) that granted TransCanada eminent domain authority is
unconstitutional, but under state law we needed a supermajority of 5
justices to win on a constitutional issue.

However, the other 3 justices didn't even rule on the issue of
constitutionality, because they said the landowners didn't have "standing"
to bring the case since eminent domain claims hadn't yet been brought
against them when the case was filed, back in 2012.

Now that TransCanada has invoked eminent domain against farmers and
ranchers on the proposed pipeline route, the issue of standing is resolved,
and our legal team is confident that one or more additional Supreme Court
justices will side with us this time around and provide the 5th vote we
need for a win.

Faced with the odds stacked in landowners' favor, TransCanada's attorneys
caved yesterday and agreed to put a halt on every eminent domain claim they
have filed throughout Nebraska while our case makes its way back up to the
state Supreme Court.

*What this case means for Keystone XL:*

A landowners' win at the Supreme Court would leave TransCanada with no
approved route in Nebraska and no power of eminent domain. The company
would have to start over from scratch and apply for a permit for Keystone
XL with the state Public Service Commission. That process could also take
upwards of a year, and would include new public hearings that would see
strong challenges from Pipeline Fighters.

*Stop eminent domain for private gain FOR GOOD:*

We also have an opportunity right now to stop eminent domain for private
gain for good. Nebraska State Sen. Ernie Chambers introduced a bill (LB
473) in the legislature that would repeal the eminent domain powers LB 1161
gave TransCanada to seize farmers' and ranchers' land to build Keystone XL.

A hearing on Sen. Chambers' bill is scheduled for March 11, during which
we'll deliver a petition with your signatures to Nebraska state senators.

*Add your name to stand in solidarity with landowners fighting eminent
domain to protect our land and water for our grandchildren:*

*Sign the petition: No eminent domain for private gain
<http://act.boldnebraska.org/sign/chambers/?t=3&akid=75.39109.nKDYjr>*.

We'll celebrate yesterday's court victory with landowners, while they
breathe a sigh of relief as the stresses of upcoming court dates and visits
from county land appraisers have been halted, for now.

*Thanks for standing with us*.

*Jane Kleeb and the Bold Nebraska team*

------------------------------

@BoldNebraska on Twitter <http://twitter.com/boldnebraska>
Bold Nebraska on Facebook <http://facebook.com/boldnebraska>

Bold Nebraska
208 S. Burlington Ave. Ste. 103, Box 325
Hastings, NE 68901 US


You can unsubscribe from this mailing list at any time.
<http://act.boldnebraska.org/cms/unsubscribe/unsubscribe/?akid=75.39109.nKDYjr>

 --
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups
"MN350 Tar Sands Team" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an
email to mn350-tar-sands-team+unsubscribe [at] googlegroups.com.
  • (no other messages in thread)

Results generated by Tiger Technologies Web hosting using MHonArc.