George Will has written a Washington Post column on the abuse of “blight” condemnations in New York: On Aug. 27, 1776, British forces routed George Washington’s novice army in the Battle of Brooklyn, which was fought in fields and woods where today the battle of Prospect Heights is being fought. Americans’ liberty is again under […]
Archive | Property Rights
Supreme Court Dismisses Potentially Important Property Rights Case as Moot
The Supreme Court has dismissed as moot, Alvarez v. Smith, a potentially important property rights case [HT: Josh Blackman]. As I explained in this Findlaw column, Alvarez involved an important issue in constitutional property law. The plaintiffs were property owners whose cars or other possessions had been seized by Chicago police and held for many […]
Using Eminent Domain to Take Wind Rights
The city of New Ulm, Minnesota may try to use eminent domain to promote wind power [HT: VC reader Paul Milligan]: Does the government’s power of eminent domain include seizing the rights to the wind that wafts over your property? That’s the controversial question swirling around an 8 megawatt wind farm proposed by the southern […]
New York Intermediate Appellate Court Invalidates Taking of “Blighted” Property for Transfer to Columbia University, but Contradicts Recent State Supreme Court Decision in the Process
By Ilya Somin on December 3, 2009 7:06 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
In Kaur v. New York Urban Development Corporation,a close 3-2 decision [HT: Neighborhood Retail Alliance], a New York intermediate appellate court has invalidated the taking of property in the Manhattanville neighborhood of New York City for transfer to Columbia University. Columbia and the government claimed that the land in question was blighted. However, the court […]
Preview of the Stop the Beach Renourishment Case
I recently completed a preview of Stop the Beach Renourishment v. Walton County, an important property rights case which was argued today, for the ABA Supreme Court Preview. It doesn’t seem to be up on their website yet, but I have posted it here. Below is a brief excerpt: Under Florida’s Beach and Shore Preservation […]
How Private Property Saved the Pilgrims
Today is Thanksgiving. And there is no better time to remember an underappreciated lesson of the original Thanksgiving: that the Pilgrims nearly starved to death because of collectivism and eventually saved themselves by adopting a system of private property. Economist Benjamin Powell tells the story here: Many people believe that after suffering through a severe […]
New York Court of Appeals Upholds Atlantic Yards Condemnations
By Ilya Somin on November 24, 2009 4:14 pm in Blight, Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
The New York Court of Appeals has issued its opinion in Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, an important property rights case. The 6-1 decision upholds the condemnation of numerous properties in Atlantic Yards project area in Brooklyn for the purpose of transferring them to powerful developer Bruce Ratner, who plans to use […]
Predicting McDonald
By Randy Barnett on November 18, 2009 9:52 am in Civil Rights, Constitutional History, Constitutional Theory, Guns, Originalism, Property Rights, Supreme Court, Uncategorized
Below, my colleague Orin offers his predictions as to whether the Supreme Court will restore the “lost” Privileges or Immunities Clause to constitutional law. He may well be correct in predicting but a single vote for that proposition, but I remember when many predicted Angel Raich would get 0-1 votes for her Commerce Clause challenge […]
Jeff Benedict on Pfizer’s Withdrawal from New London, and the Kelo Takings
Journalist Jeff Benedict is the author of an excellent book on the Kelo condemnations, that I reviewed here. In this Hartford Courant op ed, he discusses the Pfizer Corporation’s recent decision to close down its headquarters in the New London, Connecticut neighborhood where it had previously played a key role in instigating the notorious condemnations […]
New York: Where “Underutilization” Equals “Blight”
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing “there’s nothing you can’t do” in New York. That may be true for Hova, but it’s not supposed to be true when it comes to eminent domain under New York law. A purported “public purpose” is insufficient to seize private property for economic development. So government authorities resort to “blight” […]
NY Times Blog Discussion on the Implications of Pfizer’s Decision to Abandon its New London Facility Near the Site of the Kelo Takings
By Ilya Somin on November 13, 2009 12:30 pm in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
The New York Times Room for Debate blog has a forum on the implications of Pfizer’s decision to abandon its New London headquarters. Pfizer and its New London facility had previously played a key role in instigating the condemnations that led to the Supreme Court’s decision to uphold the use of eminent domain for “economic […]
More on the Implications of Pfizer’s Decision to Close Down its New London Headquarters
Over at the Land Use Prof Blog, property scholar Matt Festa has a good discussion of the implications of Pfizer’s decision to close down its New London headquarters for the ongoing debate over the use of eminent domain to promote economic development. As I explained in this post, the construction of this Pfizer facility was […]
Texas’ Amendment 11: Another Post-Kelo Eminent Domain Reform that Falls Short
By Ilya Somin on November 10, 2009 9:18 pm in Eminent Domain, Kelo, Post-Kelo Reform, Property Rights
It hasn’t gotten much media attention, but last week, Texas voters overwhelmingly approved Amendment 11, an eminent domain reform measure that purports to ban “economic development” takings of the kind the Supreme Court upheld in Kelo v. City of New London. Texas badly needs stronger protection for property rights, since it has a long history […]
Pfizer Corporation Plans to Abandon New London Headquarters that Led to the Kelo Takings
The Pfizer Corporation has announced that it will close down its headquarters in New London, Connecticut. [HT: my former student Josh Blackman, and other VC readers]. As our regular readers may recall, Pfizer played a key role in instigating the notorious condemnations that led to the Supreme Court’s decision upholding the taking of private property […]
More on California Tax-Services Model – William Voegeli Responds to Comments
By Kenneth Anderson on November 9, 2009 4:14 pm in California, Economy, Housing, Property Rights, Regulation, Voting With Your Feet
Last week I blogged about a very interesting article in the Manhattan Institute’s City Journal by Claremont Review of Books contributing editor William Voegeli titled “The Big-Spending, High-Taxing, Lousy Services Paradigm” (Autumn 2009). It compared the tax-services models of California and Texas. VC commenters were spirited as ever and raised a number of important questions. Although […]