The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear a petition from two Mount Pleasant, Wisconsin, residents challenging the use of eminent domain to take their properties for a Foxconn Technology Group plant project. The residents, Pamela J. Antosh and Ned E. Lashley, alleged that federal courts improperly dismissed their constitutional takings claims as duplicative of arguments made in a state court case.
The decision leaves intact an April ruling from the Seventh Circuit that upheld the dismissal of the federal suit, which claimed the village of Mount Pleasant impermissibly took their property for private purposes under the guise of a public benefit.
Residents Argue Constitutional Claims Were Barred
Antosh and Lashley had initially contested the compensation they received when Mount Pleasant used eminent domain in 2019 to acquire their properties for the Foxconn project. The state court proceedings focused on whether the residents were adequately compensated. However, after key rulings went against them in state court, the residents filed a federal lawsuit asserting that the takings violated their constitutional rights.
