Nationwide, authorities are blocking owners from protecting their property from demolition, stripping them of their rights.
Nationwide, authorities are blocking owners from protecting their property from demolition, stripping them of their rights.
L ocal officials have declared a war on blight in Macon-Bibb County, Ga. But Eric Arnold is not part of the problem. He bought a dilapidated home in a 70-year-old neighborhood and went to work making the property beautiful.
Arnold, a carpenter with decades of experience in home renovation, had the skills and motivation to do the job right. Following a career in New Jersey, he returned to his family’s roots in Georgia with the dream of creating a homestead for his children and grandchildren.
Macon-Bibb County should have been thrilled. But rather than welcome Arnold to the community, code enforcers fast-tracked his newly acquired property for demolition, ignoring his pleas to reconsider. Neighbors called him when the wrecking crew arrived on November 15, 2023, but all Arnold could do was watch as workers toppled his house with his tools and supplies still inside.
“That’s when all hell broke loose,” Arnold says in a recorded interview. “They was threatening me to get off my own property. Every last officer had guns on him. Must have been eight cars out there.”
Arnold has tried to figure out what caused the rush. But a secretive process prevents public review. This has been the norm since Macon-Bibb mayor Lester Miller launched a “Blight Fight” campaign in 2021 with a code-enforcement team that operates like a shadow police department. Nearly 800 houses have disappeared in three years without court proceedings.
No testimony. No paper trail. No judicial orders. Some homeowners do not even get notices.
Cases can go to Macon-Bibb Municipal Court, but they almost never do. That’s because the county has granted itself the power to avoid court entirely — a power it unsurprisingly exercises in most cases. And even if a property owner does get in front of a judge, municipal courts are not “courts of record,” which means nobody keeps detailed or permanent case files.
“When you knock something down like that, it destroys families,” Arnold says. “It destroyed my whole generation. Now I have nothing.”
Rather than give up on his dream, Arnold fought back with a constitutional lawsuit on September 18, 2024, in a real court. Our public-interest law firm, the Institute for Justice, represents him.
The case hinges on due process. Drivers accused of minor traffic offenses currently get more protection than Macon-Bibb County homeowners do. Hearings are automatic for speeding or lane violations, even when the potential fine is less than $100. The stakes can be exponentially higher when the government comes for someone’s house. Yet Macon-Bibb County treats demolition like something less serious than writing a traffic ticket.
Lack of accountability is built in. People cannot challenge a process never spelled out. They cannot meet deadlines never defined. They cannot attend hearings never scheduled. And they cannot appeal court orders never issued. This ambiguity allows the government to do whatever it wants. And once a demolition occurs, the damage is irreversible.
The lack of transparency is alarming. So is the lack of separation of powers.
The Georgia constitution mandates that judicial authority must belong “exclusively” to the courts. Yet code enforcers in Macon-Bibb County give themselves permission to abate any nuisance they deem a threat to health or safety. They decide for themselves what this standard means. They could condemn a property for any reason, including personal preference. They don’t have to say.
Our firm has litigated property-rights cases for 30 years, and we have seen gross abuses from California to New Jersey. Far too often, zoning officials use “blight” as an excuse to clear out lower-income neighborhoods, chasing families out of homes they sometimes have occupied for generations.
We sued Shelby County, Tenn., for operating a woefully deficient blight court that allows unsworn and hearsay testimony. We sued Brentwood, Mo., for using blight to take property for commercial development — even when “blighted” buildings are safe, attractive, and well maintained. We sued Ocean Springs, Miss., for similar reasons.
All of these cases highlight constitutional violations. Yet Macon-Bibb County could be setting a new low in its rush to condemn as many homes as possible. Local officials actually celebrated when they reached 700 demolitions in three years — and they gave Mayor Miller a brick from what was once a house to mark the occasion.
People like Arnold deserve better. Homeowners are entitled to notice and a fair hearing before the government demolishes their dreams.
Christie Hebert is an attorney at the Institute for Justice’s Texas office. Dylan Moore is a litigation fellow at the Institute for Justice’s Virginia office.