Eminent Domain Round Up

A couple of interesting eminent domain-related items appeared on my screen today:

• Related to my earlier post on The Euclidization of Public Use - A Dose of Reality for the Kelo Majority, comes a report "Plans Stall In Fort Trumbull" about the economic development project that gave us Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005):

Next month marks the third anniversary of the controversial U.S. Supreme Court decision that allowed the city of New London to use the power of eminent domain. But, not much progress has been made in Fort Trumbull, leaving some wondering whether the homeowners were forced out for nothing.

The chutzpah award[*] needs to be given for this statement accusing the homeowners who objected to the taking of their property as one of the reasons the project is failing:

The 79-acre Fort Trumbull project is spearheaded by the New London Development Corporation, a quasi-public development arm of the city.  NLDC selected developer Corcoran Jennison to find new tenants for the property and build 80 townhouses.  Marty Jones, the president of Corcoran Jennison, said the lawsuits and delays haven't helped the project."  Unfortunately it created a lot of negative impressions in the financial and larger markets because of the notoriety of the lawsuits," Jones said.

Complete report here.

• It's being reported that the Texas Border Coalition will be filing a class action lawsuit over issues related to the fence along the U.S. - Mexico border.  Claims include the government's failure to negotiate prior to the exercise of eminent domain, due process violations for failure to make rules on how negotiations would be conducted, and claims that some politically-connected property owners were given favorable treatment.  Complete story here.  Some of these issues have been in court before, as detailed in the earlier post Eminent Domain and the Border Fence. 

*The Court of Federal Claims and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit at one time instituted a “Chutzpah Championship” or “Chutzpah Award.”  See Jack A. Guggenheim, The Evolution of Chutzpah as a Legal Term: The Chutzpah Championship, The Chutzpah Award, Chutzpah Doctrine, And Now, the Supreme Court, 87 Ky. L. J. 417, 419 (1999) (discussing, among other items, the federal courts’ awards for baseless audacity and legal cheek).