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 […]
Archive | Kelo
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 […]
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 […]
The Case for Federal Eminent Domain Reform
By Ilya Somin on July 1, 2013 7:54 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
Nick Sibilla of the Institute for Justice, the libertarian public interest firm that litigated Kelo v. City of New London and many other property rights cases, has a good op ed in Forbes on the need for reform measures to curb federal funding of abusive condemnations by state and local governments: Eight years ago, the […]
The Kelo Condemnation Site Still Lies Empty Eight Years after the Supreme Court Ruled it Could be Taken for “Economic Development”
In its controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, the Supreme Court ruled that private property can be taken and transferred to other private owners in order to promote “economic development.” Eight years have passed since that decision. But, as the New London Day reports, there is still no development going on. […]
Interesting Missouri Supreme Court Decision Interpreting the State’s Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform Law
The Supreme Court of Missouri recently issued Missouri Ex. Rel. Jackson v. Dolan, an important decision interpreting the state’s post-Kelo eminent domain reform law, which bans the use of eminent domain to condemn property for “solely economic development purposes.” As Robert Thomas points out at the Inverse Condemnation Blog, the ruling gives the statute more […]
Illinois Senate Passes Bill Authorizing the Use of Eminent Domain to Take Property for Casinos
The Institute for Justice, a leading libertarian public interest law firm that has litigated numerous property rights cases, reports that the Illinois state senate has passed a bill authorizing the use of eminent domain for the benefit of casinos: The bill passed 32-20 in the state Senate on May 1 and is now being considered […]
Supreme Court Refuses to Hear Important Property Rights Case
As Damon Root notes, The Supreme Court recently refused to consider Ilagan v. Ungacta, an important Public Use Clause property rights case. I wrote an amicus brief on behalf of numerous public interest organizations and law professors urging the Court to take Ilagan and use it as an opportunity to clear up major ambiguities left […]
Don’t Believe the Denials – Alabama Really Did Undermine its Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform Law
Last week, I blogged about how the Alabama state legislature recently adopted a bill that undermines its post-Kelo eminent domain reform law and opens the door to the taking of private property for transfer to a wide range of politically connected private interests. Two state senators who sponsored the law have claimed that their bill […]
Alabama Undermines its Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform Law
By Ilya Somin on April 3, 2013 10:55 am in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
In the aftermath of the Supreme Court’s controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which ruled that state and local governments could condemn property for transfer to private parties for “economic development,” 44 states passed eminent domain reform laws intended to curtail abusive condemnations. Many of the new laws only pretended to […]
How I Became a (Minor) Victim of Academic Plagiarism
Today, the Baltimore Sun published a detailed story about Towson University Professor Benjamin Neil, who has been accused of numerous instances of plagiarism, especially in a 2012 article on Kelo v. City of New London and post-Kelo eminent domain reform which has since been withdrawn by the Journal of Academic and Business Ethics: A longtime […]
University of Michigan Law School Talk on Property Rights Since Kelo
On Thursday, March 14, I will be giving a talk on “Property Rights Since Kelo” at the University of Michigan Law School. The event will run from 11:45 to about 12:50. I will cover both the legislative and judicial reactions to the Supreme Court’s controversial 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, which […]
Talk on Kelo and Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform at South Texas College of Law
By Ilya Somin on January 14, 2013 6:23 pm in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
This Thursday at 5 PM, I will be speaking on Kelo v. City of New London and post-Kelo eminent domain reform at South Texas College of Law in Houston. The talk will be held in the Emile Slohm conference roomon the 6th Floor, and is sponsored by the South Texas Federalist Society. I will will […]
Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to Hear Ilagan v. Ungacta – An Important Post-Kelo Property Rights Case
By Ilya Somin on January 8, 2013 10:50 am in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
We recently filed an amicus brief urging the Supreme Court to hear Ilagan v. Ungacta, an important property rights case on the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment. I wrote the brief on behalf of the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center, twelve other organizations (including the Cato Institute, the Becket […]
A Chinese Analogue to the Kelo Case?
This recent Chinese case has attracted a lot of attention in both China and the West, and is drawing comparisons to the famous US takings case of of Kelo v. City of New London. The Huffington Post describes the facts as follows: In the middle of an eastern Chinese city’s new main road, rising incongruously […]