Eminent Domain

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7^th Circuit Court of Appeals

Case Name: Pamela Antosh v. Village of Mount Pleasant

Case No.: 23-1678

Officials: Wood, Scudder, and St. Eve, Circuit Judges.

Focus: Eminent Domain

Before us is another chapter in Pamela Antosh and Ned Lashley’s litigation challenging the Village of Mount Pleasant’s use of its eminent-domain power to acquire their property. They first filed suit in state court in 2019, soon after the Village condemned their property for road improvements associated with the private Foxconn development. In state court, Antosh and Lashley opted to contest only the amount of compensation they were owed, not the propriety of the taking. But when the state court ruled against them on an evidentiary issue two years into litigation, they decided to try their luck in federal court. In their federal complaint, they alleged for the first time that the taking was improper because it served a private purpose, not a public one.

The district court saw this federal suit as a strategic effort to circumvent an unfavorable state-court ruling without taking the necessary steps to appeal. Accordingly, it dismissed the action without prejudice, citing Colorado River Water Conservation District v. United States, 424 U.S. 800 (1976). The appeals court concludes that the district court was right to refrain from exercising jurisdiction over their federal claims.

Affirmed.

Decided 04/25/24

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