Timothy Sandefur of the Pacific Legal Foundation has a good post outlining the the dangers posed by a California ballot question drafted by local governments interested in expanding their already very broad power to condemn property: [J]ust before Christmas, the law firm of Rutan & Tucker—the leading California law firm for cities that want to […]
Archive | Eminent Domain
Christian Burset on William Baude on Federal Eminent Domain
Last year I published an article in the Yale Law Journal arguing that the Constitution did not give the federal government the power of eminent domain. The Necessary Proper Clause was originally understood not to implicitly grant “great” powers to the federal government, and I argue that eminent domain (at least over land) was best […]
Upcoming Federalist Society Faculty Conference Presentation on my Next Book – The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain
By Ilya Somin on December 26, 2013 11:25 am in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Next week, on Friday, January 3, between 5 and 6:15 PM, I will be doing a presentation on my next book, tentatively entitled The Grasping Hand: Kelo v. City of New London and the Limits of Eminent Domain at the Federalist Society’s annual faculty conference. This will be a preview of the book, which will […]
New London Mayor Advocates Devoting the Kelo Condemnation Site to a True “Public Use”
Eight years after the Supreme Court ruled in Kelo v. City of New London that private property can be taken and transferred to other private owners in order to promote “economic development” because such development qualifies as a “public use” under the Fifth Amendment, the Kelo condemnation site still lies empty. But New London Mayor […]
Philadelphia Condemns Artist’s Studio to Build a Supermarket and Parking Lot
Nick Sibilla of the Institute for Justice has a good article on the City of Philadelphia’s dubious efforts to condemn a successful artist’s studio in order to transfer it to a new private owner that would build a supermarket and parking lot on the site. This scheme isn’t quite paving paradise to put up a […]
My Talks about “Great Powers” and Eminent Domain Next Week
Next week I’ll be giving two talks about my most recent article (and I think it’s my best!) — Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power. Here’s Ilya’s JOTWELL post about the piece. (Even if you think you don’t care about the federal eminent domain power, I promise it’s far more interesting than that, since it’s […]
NSFWCorp Article on Eminent Domain Relies on Inaccurate Name-Calling Instead of Argument
The NSFWCorp website has published an article by Yasha Levine (subscription required) attacking me and other libertarian critics of the City of Richmond’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn mortgages. Unfortunately, Levine doesn’t actually answer any of the arguments against the plan advanced by libertarian critics. Instead, he devotes his entire article to claiming […]
My JOTWELL Post on Will Baude’s “Rethinking the Federal Eminent Domain Power”
In my capacity as one of the editors for the constitutional law section of JOTWELL (a sited devoted to reviewing important new legal scholarship), I review an important new constitutional law article every summer. I usually try to pick articles that are 1) within one of my fields of expertise (primarily federalism and property rights), […]
Sacramento and Washington, DC Threaten to Use Eminent Domain to Take Property to Build Sports Stadiums
Nick Sibilla of the Institute for Justice describes Sacramento and Washington, DC’s ill-advised plans to use the threat of eminent domain to acquire property to build sports stadiums on: In less than a week, two capital cities are preparing to use eminent domain to build professional sports stadiums. Talk about foul play. The Sacramento city […]
My USA Today Column on the City of Richmond’s Plan to Condemn Mortgages
By Ilya Somin on August 12, 2013 5:12 pm in Eminent Domain, Just Compensation Clause, Property Rights
The USA Today website just published my column criticizing the Richmond, CA’s plan to condemn mortgages: The City of Richmond, California is threatening to use eminent domain to condemn over 600 mortgages on homes that are now worth less than the outstanding debt on the mortgages themselves. The city plans to write down the value […]
Will the City of Richmond’s Plan to Condemn Mortgages Really Cost Taxpayers Nothing?
By Ilya Somin on August 9, 2013 8:34 pm in Eminent Domain, Just Compensation Clause, Property Rights
In an earlier post, I noted that one of the problems with the California City of Richmond’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn mortgages is that taxpayers will have to pay for it. However, some defenders of the plan – such as Mortgage Resolution Partners – the “community advisory” firm that has been hired […]
Lawsuit Challenges Richmond, CA’s Plan to Use Eminent Domain to Condemn Mortgages
By Ilya Somin on August 7, 2013 11:10 pm in Eminent Domain, Just Compensation Clause, Kelo, Property Rights
A group of bond investors has filed a lawsuit challenging the California City of Richmond’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn mortgages: Bond investors including Pacific Investment Management Co. and BlackRock Inc. (BLK) are seeking a court order blocking Richmond, California, and Mortgage Resolution Partners LLC from seizing mortgages through eminent domain, saying the […]
Just Compensation Problems with the City of Richmond’s Plan to Use Eminent Domain to Condemn Mortgages
In my previous post on the the California city of of Richmond’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn underwater mortgages, I noted that the plan is likely to be permissible under the Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which says that a taking is for a constitutional “public use,” so […]
Using Eminent Domain to Condemn Mortgages
The New York Times has an interesting article describing one California city’s plan to use eminent domain to condemn and restructure mortgages [HT: numerous readers who have written me requesting that I do a post about this issue]: The power of eminent domain has traditionally worked against homeowners, who can be forced to sell their […]
More on Eminent Domain, Crony Capitalism, and the Decline of Detroit
Building on my post discussing the role of eminent domain abuse and the destruction of property rights in helping to cause the decline of Detroit, economist David Henderson has an interesting discussion of how “urban renewal” condemnations in the 1960s helped cause the massive 1967 race riot that most believe was a major milestone in […]