Sen. Joe Lieberman has lost a battle. It’s an eminent domain case in East Haddam that center’s on land owned by his uncle’s estate.
The state's junior senator is an executor of his uncle's estate, which included property that East Haddam seized after the town voted to take land for a new middle school. He, along with three others, were plaintiffs in a case against the town of East Haddam.
The ordeal started in January 2006, when East Haddam officials began eminent domain proceedings. A month later, the case was filed.
His argument? That the town did not begin condemnation proceedings within six months after the vote to take the property. Then there was the question over whether the property would be used only for school purposes or whether some would be used for “general purposes or open space.”
The state Appellate Court agreed with Joe and company and said, yes, there is a question about whether the property, every bit of land to be built upon, would be used for school purposes.
On Monday, however, the state Supreme Court ruled in Gold v. East Haddam against Lieberman and the others. The gist of the Supreme Court decision is this: the six-month deadline does not matter because it does not apply to schools.
The state Supreme Court also said there's no issue that the land is going to be used for school purposes.
Aerial photos support that because they showed that nothing can go on most of the land because it’s wet or has steep slopes, according to the opinion.
