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Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Law - The Supreme Court will hear land-use case

Updating our entry from Sept. 17th ("U.S. Supreme Court considers Poletown-type case") are a number of reports today, including this one by the NY Times' Linda Greenhouse, headlined "Justices Agree to Hear Property Rights Case." Some quotes:

The case is an appeal by seven property owners in a neighborhood in New London, Conn., that the city has designated for economic development. The Connecticut Supreme Court upheld the city's right to exercise its power of eminent domain to take the parcels, pay compensation to the owners and turn the land over to a private developer.

While eminent domain in the past was generally limited to government projects, like roads or public buildings, or to what used to be known as slum clearance, local governments are increasingly finding it convenient to use eminent domain to clear land for private development that will enhance the tax base.

New London's plans for the 90-acre neighborhood of small homes include a waterfront hotel and conference center, office space for high technology research and development, retail space and 80 new homes. The city has offered the property to a private developer under a 99-year lease at $1 a year. The property owners rejected the city's offer of compensation and filed a lawsuit to block the plan.

The question for the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London, No. 04-108, is whether private development of this sort amounts to the kind of public use for which eminent domain is authorized by the Constitution. The so-called Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment provides: "nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation." * * *

Although the case clearly caught the justices' attention sufficiently to induce them to select it from among the roughly 1,000 new appeals that accumulated over the summer recess, it is not clear how the court will decide it. The Supreme Court has traditionally been quite deferential toward the government's use of eminent domain. The case, which the court will hear in January, is likely to attract a large number of briefs and to spark a lively debate over whether New London's economic development proposal is different in kind from the uses the court has authorized for eminent domain in the past.

Lyle Denniston, writing for SCOTUSBlog.com, has posted a good look at the property rights review, and other cases added to the Court's docket yesterday.

Posted by Marcia Oddi on September 29, 2004 09:13 AM
Posted to General Law Related