Contents:
No person shall ... be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. (Fifth Amendment to US Constitution.
This page provides selected documents on the class action lawsuit seeking compensation from the Department for the destruction of healthy trees, under the 1900-ft rule. I have included a number of internet links, which I hope will stay active. If not, additional news stories can be found through web searches.
The class action lawsuit was being pursued by private attorneys, with Robert Gilbert, as the lead attorney.The right to compensation is based on both the Bill of Rights and the Florida Constitution. Robert (Bobby) Gilbert has yet to lose a case. But the real problem is being able to collect.
Broad police powers are given to the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services to remove "public nuisances" and disease or pest ridden plants would be within their authority to remove without requiing compensation. The case lead by Broward and Miami-Dade Counties, sought to shut down the eradication program, for multiple reasons, including on inadequate compensations. The Florida Supreme Court rejected this basis for an injunction against removal of healthy trees in 2004.
The reverse condemnation lawsuits span at least 20 years from 2002 to 2022. The class action lawsuits were "reverse condemnation" cases, meaning that the compensation was requested after the destruction of property by the Department.
At the foundation of the challenges, was the Patchen case in 2005, in which the the Florida Supreme Court ruled that residents whose trees had been destroyed as a result of the 1900-ft rule, were entitled to additional compensation.
Miami-Dade Class-Action Compensation Lawsuit:
A settlement fund of 76.8 million dollars was approved for Miami-Dade residents who had their citrus trees destroyed from years 2000 to 2006 was approved by the Court on March 28, 2022. Initial payments of checks began on November 17, 2022. See link below:
Miami-Dade Compensation Settlement
If this settlement proves anything, it is the immense difficulty and delay in attempting to sue state governments for compensation after the destruction of property occurs. The Department of Agriculture had maintained that all residential healthy citrus trees within the 1900-ft radius were, in fact, destined to become infected, hence worthless.
Other Awards:
County |
Award (millions) |
|---|---|
Broward |
9.0 |
Palm Beach |
19.0 |
Lee |
9.6 |
Orange |
20.6 |
The awards may change as interest charges may be added and compensation already received may be subtracted from sums. For Palm Beach, the award of 19.0 million is no longer valid as the case has been sent back to Palm Beach for a new jury trial.
Citrus canker litigation website
Website tracks of the compensation cases and provides the information for residents to collect compensation. Interestingly, it's located in Minneopolis, MN. .
Update 2019: Compensation to 84,000 Broward and Palm Beach residents, has been authorized by the legislature in 2019. Residents in Lee and Orange Counties are still waiting for compensation. No class action lawsuit went forward in Miami-Dade County, so no additional compensation is legally required for these residents. I suspect the cost of being able to overcome numerous legal challenges, in the appellate court, was the main reason for the lack of a awsuit in Miami-Dade County. No word from Robert Gilbert on the prospects of future compensation. He has endured a long series of appeals by FDACS aimed at making any lawsuit very expensive and time consuming. I don't know how many of the residents are still around to collect. |