WND Staff – The city of Charlestown, Indiana, has been ordered to go to trial for a scheme that allegedly weaponized fines to force homeowners in an entire subdivision to sell out to a developer favored by the city.

The Institute for Justice confirmed the trial in a lawsuit residents brought against Charlestown will begin Nov. 2 in the Clark County Courthouse in Jeffersonville.

Last year, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled the homeowners’ claims likely would prevail.

At issue are the applications of the state’s Unsafe Building Law and the city’s Property Maintenance Code, which the city has been using to push out the owners of existing homes. Continue reading →