Re: Eminent domain

Submitted by Gideon Kanner (United States), Apr 11, 2005 at 20:40

Two out of three instances of use of eminent domain your correspondnets mention present no problem, since they are land takings for public uses as specified in the 5th Amendment.
Even as I write, the US Supreme Court is considering Kelo v. New London (argued on February 22d) where the issue is whether New London can take by eminent domain an entire 90-acre neighborhood, then lease it for $1 per year for 99 years to a private developer who hopes to make a lot of money and by a trickle down theory have some of that money work its way down into the community in the form of taxes and wages for new jobs. The question is: is that "public use."
American press reportage on the use of eminent domain in Israel is a whole other painful strory. But that's for another time.

---

Note: Opinions expressed in comments are those of the authors alone and not necessarily those of Daniel Pipes. Original writing only, please. Comments are screened and in some cases edited before posting. Reasoned disagreement is welcome but not comments that are scurrilous, off-topic, commercial, disparaging religions, or otherwise inappropriate. For complete regulations, see the "Guidelines for Reader Comments".