When considering a redevelopment authority’s condemnation of what is assumed by all litigants to be a valuable leasehold interest, how does a court determine the lessee is owed nothing, and conclude that nothing is “just” compensation (and indeed, the lessee must pay back the compensation it was previously paid, plus interest)?
Eminent domain mavens already
“Would that John Adams could rise from his grave tospeak for the VFW, and for property rights in twenty-firstcentury America. I believe he would observe that, if the VFW’sproperty can be taken without compensation, no property issecure.”
So says the dissenting Justice in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars
We’ve been loosely following the Senate Judiciary Committee’s hearings on the nomination of Judge Sonia Sotamayor as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, and reading selected testimony and commentary on the subject. We say “loosely” since confirmation hearings are more political theater and an opportunity for each side to educate the public about its
The National Constitution Center regularly posts “We The People Stories,” podcasts of “nationally recognized leaders debating and discussing the Constitution.”
The latest is about Kelo and eminent domain, and is well worth a listen.
Here’s the summary:
A conversation about Kelo v. City of New London four years after the Supreme Court’s highly controversial 5-4
The Senate’s hearings on Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s nomination as an Associate Justice of the U.S. Supreme Court begin today. Here’s our summary of cases in which she was involved as a circuit and district judge on the issue.
If confirmed, we may find out her thinking about regulatory takings very soon, because in its
That now-cliched line from Field of Dreams, “if you build it they will come” (actually, it’s “he will come,” but work with us here) seemed to be the driving force behind the New London Development Corporation’s plans for the Fort Trumbull neighborhood when it wanted to condemn the homes of Susette Kelo and
In System Components Corp. v. Florida Dep’t of Transportation, No. SC08-1507 (July 9, 2009), the Florida Supreme Court resolved a conflict in the lower Florida courts regarding the application of business damages in a condemnation case under Florida Statutes § 73.071(3)(b). The court held that a business is not required to relocate as
Here are items which we’ve been reviewing today:
A recent post by Florida Keys land use attorney Jim Mattson on his Grand Theft: Property blog “Oral Argument in Condemnation Blight Case” got us to thinking.
A very interesting conference call today, focusing on the property-related decisions by SCOTUS nominee Sotomayor and the takings case recently accepted for review by the U.S. Supreme Court. Here are the links to some of the cases and other topics discussed during today’s call, and other items of interest which we didn’t have time for: