Jeb Bush as Florida
Governor used eminent domain to destroy private property without compensation.
When Jeb was governor of Florida, he
ordered backyard citrus trees to all be destroyed without compensation to
residents, because of an outbreak of citrus canker disease. This was the
largest private property confiscation via eminent domain in the history of the
Sunshine State. [Link]
The homeowners, received a $100 voucher
to be used in the garden department at Wal-Mart
He not only ordered seizures by force, but it was Bush himself who
refused to reimburse the residents for the property he unlawfully ordered to be
removed and destroyed.
"The Agriculture Department's
hired goon squads break down their fences, trample their rights, and destroyed
private property."
Under an emergency
order by Governor Bush, canker crews do not need an owner's permission to walk onto
private property and take out citrus trees. Lushly landscaped yards have been
reduced to vacant lots in minutes.
Bush’s action is now
costing the State of Florida hundreds of millions in lawsuits and legal fees.
During a period
from mid-2000 to January 2006 the Florida Department of Agriculture,
at the direction of Governor Jeb Bush, began a program to seize and destroy
citrus trees from Florida residents.
The action stemmed from an
outbreak of citrus canker, a disease that weakens citrus trees and
blemishes fruit. The fruit becomes less attractive and marketable.
[…] the
department’s tree-cutting crews went through Florida’s residential
neighborhoods, destroying orange, grapefruit and other citrus trees found
within 1,900 feet of diseased trees. Delayed and hampered by lawsuits from
homeowners, the campaign failed to stop the disease, which eventually made it
to the state’s commercial groves. (link)
The program was
essentially FLDA government authorized jackboots entering the yards and
properties of Florida residents and destroying private property “without compensation” for
their loss. Any homeowners who did not willingly comply were subject to
arrest by law enforcement.
“They came with two
sheriff’s deputies. They said if you don’t step aside we will handcuff you and
take you to jail,” says John Haire, of Fort Lauderdale, one of several
residents challenging the eradication program in court. (link)
Thousands of homeowners
were affected and many saw all of their orange, lemon, lime and citrus trees
completely destroyed. Governor Jeb Bush and the Florida Dept of
Agriculture used “eminent domain”
law as the underlying legal principle for their action.
Eventually the Florida
State Supreme court ruled the entire process was
unconstitutional government eminent domain overreach, and thousands of
Florida residents sued the state.
The lawsuits have dragged
through the courts for almost a decade, and recently hundreds of millions in
compensation have been awarded in Lee, Palm Beach, Broward, Orange and
Miami-Dade counties.
In total the state
destroyed about 660,000 trees of private property owners.
Bush’s action is now costing the State
of Florida hundreds of millions in lawsuits and legal fees. A south Florida jury has ordered the State of
Florida to pay $11.5 million as compensation to 58,225 residents of Broward County. Similar class-action lawsuits
took place in Miami-Dade, Palm Beach, Lee, and Orange Counties. $20.17 Million awarded in Orange County – Link – More than
$20 million in Palm Beach county – Link –
Somewhere between $75 and $80 million estimated, including Lee County – Link –
[…] The reason the
state is appealing and has appealed in other citrus cases is “no one in
Tallahassee has the leadership and courage to say we did our best, in
retrospect, we did them
wrong, let’s move forward,” he said.
[…] “This was an
actual case, a real case of eminent domain and the state needs to come up with
the money,” she said. “I think David beat Goliath, and Goliath has got to
quit.” (link)
As voters in New Hampshire
heard on Saturday night, Jeb Bush believes it a horrible thing to seize
property from private citizens; yet history would reflect when Jeb Bush himself
was governor of the state of Florida – not only did he order seizures, by
force, but Bush also refused to reimburse the residents for the property
he unlawfully ordered to be removed and destroyed.
