Summary
Few decisions of the U.S. Supreme Court have proven as controversial as Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, decided on June 23 of last year. The Court upheld the city's authority to use the eminent domain power to take the houses of several New London residents in order to assemble land for a large urban redevelopment project that would include apartments, shopping, and office space. The Court's decision wasn't unexpected; it largely tracked a decision made by the same court 51 years earlier.
As in other eminent domain cases, the homeowners in Kelo are, of course, entitled to be paid the fair value of their houses; that right has never been questioned, and the courts have always enforced it. Nevertheless, many people are uncomfortable with the notion that an individual could be forced to sell his or her house to advance the economic growth and development of the city at large.See the full content of this document
Extract
Commentary: Fixing Eminent Domain: Not a Job for the Courts
The Missouri Farm Bureau has been a vigorous critic of the Kelo decision. According to a telephone survey conducted by a firm hired by the Bureau, 83 percent of the citizens contacted were opposed to use of the eminent...
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