Frink excluded the Department of Public Works and the Department of Public Lands, which were among those government agencies included in her original complaint.
“We dropped DPL and DPW as defendants as they are part of the government of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. We also decided to focus our claim on the unconstitutional taking of real property without just compensation,” said Frink’s lawyer, Lillian Ada Tenorio.
Despite demands, Tenorio said the CNMI government has not compensated her client since Frink’s 525 square meters property on Nang Ocha Road in San Vicente was taken over by the government in 2000.
Based on DPL records, the total land compensation owed to Frink as of Sept. 30, 2010 was $75,498.80, Tenorio said.
She said Frink should be entitled to fair and just compensation for the unlawful taking of her property in an amount equal to the valuation as of the date of taking.
In 2008, Antonio S. Camacho successfully sued in federal court the CNMI government which was ordered to pay $263,000 in judgment, costs and interest.
Camacho’s property was taken by the CNMI government.
In his seven-page order granting Camacho’s motion for writ of execution and, in the alternative, for an order in aid of judgment, then-Chief Judge Alex R. Munson ruled: “The failure of the Legislature to fulfill its constitutional mandate does not, cannot, and will not prevent the court from taking all necessary steps to ensure that its judgments are enforceable.”
He added, “A court that cannot enforce its judgments must forever close its doors, as it will have become nothing more than an historical curiosity.”
