If you read our reports regularly, government overreach is a term with which you are quite familiar.
That is what the Trump administration believes is happening in New Jersey, and now Trump officials are stepping in to try to save a family from having its farm snatched up in an eminent domain claim by the state.
Eminent domain has been around nearly as long as this country, with the government having the right to take land from its owners with “just compensation,” but that is usually determined by the government.
The first case of eminent domain came before the Supreme Court in 1876 (Kohl v. United States). Justice William Strong said this authority was “essential to its independent existence and perpetuity.”
Since then, there have been numerous cases where eminent domain has been used to take land that was deemed necessary for city, state, and local projects, but this is not something you see as commonplace as it was when the country was expanding and developing.
That just changed, however, as a farm that has been in a family for nearly 200 years is being threatened.
Andrew and Christopher Henry are now trying to prevent Cranbury Township from seizing a farm that has been in their family since 1850 so it can build affordable housing units.
The city has goals, and those goals can only be met if it snatches that land to build the affordable housing units in the plan. Andrew Henry stated, “Basically what is said was: ‘We’ve identified your property for affordable housing, and we’d like you to agree on a price. If you don’t, we’ll plan on taking it by eminent domain.’”
Mayor Lisa Knierim defended the move, stating, “The last criteria came only three months ago after we had already reviewed a significant number of properties. Taking into consideration this new criteria, I hope residents can understand how the funnel of properties began getting smaller and smaller and smaller.”
Well, how about identifying other areas rather than taking someone’s farm from them?
The Henry dilemma started to get national attention to the point that U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins decided to get involved.
She posted, "Whether the Maudes, the Henrys or others whom we will soon announce, the Biden-style government takeover of our family farms is over. While this particular case is a city eminent domain issue, we @usda are exploring every legal option to help."
Now, to be clear, this is a local issue, not a federal issue, but I am sure the township does not want to feel the weight of the federal government coming down on it over a cattle farm.
This is not about the money for the Henrys, as they have been offered more than $30 million by developers in the past for their land. Hopefully, the Trump administration can get this rectified, and the Henry brothers will be able to keep their farm. We will keep an eye on it and update as necessary.
