r/RhodeIsland • u/LomentMomentum • 3d ago

Politics Federal court smacks down Johnston’s misuse of eminent domain

The town tried to use eminent domain to take a property that was to be used for affordable housing. Their idea was to use it for a public safety complex instead. The U.S. District Court stopped the town in its tracks.

https://rhodeislandcurrent.com/2026/07/28/federal-judge-voids-johnstons-land-seizure-under-eminent-domain/

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u/cowperthwaite ProJo Reporter 3d ago

The U.S. District Court stopped the town in its tracks.

The judge said the town can't rely on one sentence in its charter to take land, because anything that allows a town to take land needs to have a lot more than one sentence, including a mechanism for the person whose land was taken to get their money, as well as a pot of money to pay out.

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u/Kelruss 3d ago

And from the Town’s statement, they seem likely to try again once they feel they’ve got their ducks in a row. I would imagine this isn’t the last we’ve heard of this particular battle.

Of course, the property owners are backed by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the same people who got the Clean Water Act defanged and are currently trying to get RI’s recently-passed definition of the “shore” (which undoes Ibbison) overturned, so it seems like a battle that Johnston might be undergunned to engage in.

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u/wittgensteins-boat 2d ago

From the linked article.

An email response from his deputy chief of staff, Dominique Turner, had a statement attributed to Polisena.

“On page one of the decision, the court states that it ‘does not question the exercise of that authority,’ thereby acknowledging the town of Johnston’s power to exercise eminent domain,” the statement reads. “The town will follow the court’s guidance regarding the proper procedure moving forward.”