Redevelopment Authority v. Canepa

The legislature has said clearly that plaintiff is authorized to acquire private property by condemnation proceedings without submitting the question of necessity to a jury. Sec. 66.431 (5) (b), Stats., created by ch. 3, Laws of Sp. Sess. 1958. The primary issue is whether this authorization is void under sec. 2, art. XI of the constitution of Wisconsin. That section provides: “No municipal corporation shall take private property for public use, against the consent of the owner, without the necessity thereof being first established by the verdict of a jury.”

Defendants contend that (1) the…