Ilya Shapiro (no relation) has a good post detailing two important new eminent domain cases. Both are being contested by the Institute for Justice, the libertarian public interest law firm that litigated Kelo v. City of New London and many other important property rights cases.
The National City case from California is yet another egregious instance of the abusive use of “blight” takings: The City has declared a large area “blighted” on extremely dubious grounds in order to transfer the land to an influential developer who wants to build luxury condos there. It was described in greater detail in this 2007 Sports Illustrated article.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST WATCH: I have done pro bono work for IJ on a number of other property rights cases, though not these two.