Posted on 02/22/2008 8:36:14 AM PST by BGHater
Years after state agriculture workers cut down thousands of orange and grapefruit trees to eradicate citrus canker, Broward County homeowners Thursday won a crucial victory in their fight for compensation.
Broward Circuit Judge Ronald Rothschild ruled that the destruction of about 130,000 residential citrus trees constituted a "taking" under the state constitution and therefore required the Florida Department of Agriculture to compensate homeowners for their lost property.
The ruling came in a class-action suit filed on behalf of about 70,000 Broward homeowners whose uninfected trees were destroyed because they stood within 1,900 feet of infected trees.
In his 54-page order, the judge dismissed the Agriculture Department's contention that these trees constituted a threat to public health and safety. He said the tree-cutting program was clearly designed to protect the state's commercial citrus industry. And he rejected the department's argument that the trees had no value because they had been "exposed" to the disease.
"It is remarkable to this court that after destroying millions of trees over an 11-year period, the department is unable to cite any scientific study supporting its theory that all trees within 1,900 feet of a canker-infected tree will likewise become infected," the judge wrote. "The only reasonable finding this court can reach based on the evidence presented and all reasonable inferences is that no such proof exists because the department's 'theory' is not true."
Agriculture Commissioner Charles Bronson expressed disappointment with the ruling, saying the state was doing its best to follow the advice of scientists to wipe out a destructive disease. He said the department will appeal.
(Excerpt) Read more at sun-sentinel.com ...
After the disease was discovered in 1995 near Miami International Airport, the Florida Department of Agriculture instituted increasingly severe methods of controlling it, climaxing with the decree in early 2000 that all citrus trees within 1,900 feet of infected ones be cut down. Homeowners were offered $100 Wal-Mart vouchers for the first tree destroyed and $55 for subsequent ones, but many considered that token compensation.'
Lol. Wal-mart vouchers.
Wal-mart vouchers.
My citrus tree, a Tangerine, was raised from a seed. I would be VERY upset if they came and cut it down...........
With this issue, no one can see the forest through the trees......
Well, Wal-Mart is on a more solid financial foundation.....
I think the state had a compelling interest in eradicating the disease that could’ve ruined their agriculture economy.
While I understand the necessity of the eradication program, the compensation is an insult at best. What part of “private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation” does the state not understand?
I think that would be the “private part” LOL
I know, it is tough. But couldn’t one say the trees were, essentially “worthless”, if they were carriers of the disease?
The state is doing a service by getting rid of them....
I am not negating the trauma someone might have if they had a lot good trees taken out. They are expensive to replace.
I would like to know more about who is filing this lawsuit...how much did they lose, really? Or is this another class action piece of crap suit run by John Edwards Clones?
Try mining coal on your own land w/o federal permission and you’ll find out.
What the heck gun is that ?
I would love a tangerine tree — we drink tangerine juice or at least orange-tangerine juice — but I’ve been wary of citrus since this whole thing started. We only have mango, papaya, and guanabana (soursop). I’m thinking about banana.
This is him, second from the left. Right next to the too-tan gay guy with the white hair.
This is an original Wildey. Chambered in the powerful 45 Winchester Magnum. Optionally the even larger 475 Wildey Magnum can be used in the firearm. The adjustable gas system allows the use of a very wide range of ammunition. The Wildey gained notoriety in several motion pictures. Charles Bronson used one in Death Wish 3, Keenen Ivory Wayans had an occasion to try a Wildey Pistol in Low Down Dirty Shame, and one was used in the film Hard Way with James Woods and Michael J Fox. Available in barrels from 5" to 14" the one pictured is a 10" barrel. After meeting with Linda and Wildey Moore in Feb of 2003 I need to state the Company has never been out of business. They did move. In 2000 Colt Firearms contracted for some Wildeys with the Colt name on them.
http://www.calzaretta.com/autos.html
Well, not that it matters, but he’s holding the gun wrong. Not only will you get excessive muzzle lift, you will also get a lot of horizontal errors in placement. On the good side, he was fingering the trigger correctly.
the “blemishes” did not harm the fruit, nor render it inedible. Rather, it merely made it less attractive at market.
In South America the same problems existed,but left alone the problem ran it’s course with no harn to the citrus industry.
Buncha eco-do-gooders muckin up the place.
I lost a grapefuit tree and an orange tree that put out over 600 oranges each year. I use to love to cut the yard, stop, pick one off the tree and eat it right there, then continue cutting the grass. It provided great shade, and awesome fresh OJ. It will take YEARS to get the new tree to produce as that 25 year old tree did. A real shame.
And those DoA people were the biggest jerks. They came to your yard with no manners and often with a Sheriff’s deputy in tow. A no-knock yard raid with chains saws and stump grinders.
A foreshadowing of how they’d be when they come for the guns...but worse!
...of course I don’t have any guns.
Unless you live below the Frost Line, bananas won’t do well, plus they take 18 months to make fruit............
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