Pa. High Court Sides With Property Owners, Rejecting Railroad's Eminent Domain Authority Benefiting One Private Company

"Any taking by a railroad does not warrant an automatic and conclusive finding of benefit to the public. Instead, courts must analyze any purported public benefit of the taking while considering the technological, social, and economic landscape 'of the period in which the particular problem presents itself for consideration,'" Justice Kevin Dougherty said.

August 22, 2024 at 06:16 PM

6 minute read

Civil Appeals

Riley Brennan

In a unanimous decision rendered this week, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court rejected a railroad company's attempts to use eminent domain authority to take less than an acre of a couple's private land, concluding the company's taking wasn't for a public purpose.

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