Real Estate & Property Law

Nashville Catches Up

By Alan Ackerman

The Tennessean did an outstanding job over uncovering and eventually ending the 20-year-old practice of sending all eminent domain cases to one Nashville judge. This creates prejudice in spirit, if not in fact.

However, the practice of assigning all condemnation cases to one judge continues in many communities. Frequently, that judge is new or held in low regard by his or her colleagues. Over time, the relationship between the judge and a condemning agency becomes skewed. I praise Presiding Judge Binkley for his wise decision to end this arrangement in Nashville.

The Tennessean

Binkley, who is the presiding judge for Davidson County State Trial Courts, signed an order requiring the clerk to randomly assign Metro condemnation cases to one of six Circuit Court judges.

Haynes has served as judge for the Third Circuit since 1990, and all Metro cases have been assigned to her since then. Although all city condemnation cases initially were assigned to Haynes, cases that advanced to trial were sometimes passed to other judges.

The policy came under scrutiny last year during the contentious eminent domain case pitting the Metro Development and Housing Agency against Tower Investments. Tower asked Haynes to recuse herself because her daughter is a partner at Miller & Martin, the powerful law firm that represents MDHA. Haynes refused, and that case is scheduled for trial next week.
 

Full post as published by National Eminent Domain Blog on February 09, 2011 (boomark / email).