Somers USA, LLC v. State of Wisconsin Department of Transportation

¶ 1. The United States and Wisconsin Constitutions prohibit a governmental body from taking private property for public use without the payment of just compensation. In this case, the State attempts to violate these constitutional prohibitions by seizing upon a scrivener's error made by Somers USA, LLC, that marked certain property on a certified survey map as a "dedication" rather than a "reservation" for a state highway project. The difference in terminology is significant in the context of condemnation and eminent domain law: a dedication requires a landowner's donative intent to convey an…