Abstract: The U.S. Supreme Court’s Kelo v. City of New London decision sparked a fierce debate throughout the United States when it validated the use of eminent domain for purposes of economic development, especially when the confiscated lands are then transferred to private parties that implement the project and enjoy its gains. Opponents see the decision as pronouncing the ultimate death of the Constitution’s Fifth Amendment requirement that eminent domain be restricted to property taken for “public use,” claiming it grants governments a carte blanche for a compulsory transfer of private property from ordinary citizens to politically powerful real estate entrepreneurs. Lobbying groups such as the Castle Coalition have argued that the Kelo decision has “opened the floodgates” of eminent domain abuse, spurring governments to proceed with hundreds of projects in which homes, small businesses, and other properties would be razed in favor of high-profile private developments, leaving landowners with minimal compensation based on the preproject “objective” land values (Berliner 2006). This version of events is only partially valid,
Publication Year: 2006
Publication Date: 2006-01-01
Language: en
Type: article
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