Georgia Supreme Court rules against Marietta over Landowner’s Bill of Rights

In a ruling that will have implications for how local governments seize private property, the Georgia Supreme Court on Monday affirmed the 2006 Landowner's Bill of Rights as a set of mandatory rules for condemning authorities.

The court sided with property owner Ray Summerour against the city of Marietta, which had argued the protections laid out in the Landowner's Bill of Rights were merely guidelines.

“If [the Landowner’s Bill of Rights] were entirely optional, as the City urges, the protective function of the Act as a whole would be impaired significantly,” the ruling reads.