The 1785 Act and those that followed order that a territory be divided into townships 6-miles square. The townships are to be divided into 36 sections of one square mile each.

Thirty-one of 36 sections were to be sold into private ownership.

The original sales documents were signed by a US president and guarantee the land to the original purchaser, his heirs and assigns FOREVER.

The remaining five sections were reserved from sale.

One section was reserved to township residents forever for them to rent out to get money to support schools.

The school reservations are an alternative to taxation for schooling. The property tax that supports schools now is an obvious violation of the Land Acts and original sales contracts because the county seizes properties for non-payment of the tax.

The other four sections are reserved for future disposition. Disposition doesn’t mean sale. It means exactly the situation that Norfolk RR has put on Englewood.

Norfolk needs land to do business. The Federal government should have the land reserved; and Norfolk can adapt to the location of it.

That city, county, state and federal officials as well as state-certified lawyers have consistently blown off the Land Acts and original contracts is a measure of how corrupt US government has always been.

Yep, it is different. Kelo has a reckoning with another SCOTUS soon. This Illinois deal is still abhorent to the Constitution though.

Government cannot delegate Constitutional Power to private firms. If there’s a ‘greater good’ to be had, the Illinois State Government needs to do it’s job and exercise eminent domain. That way, if they attempt a confiscation the electorate opposes, they can be voted out. No one saw the railway executives on the last ballot.