I’ve been reading some noteworthy law journal articles on the subject of eminent domain — two on the issue of pretext, and one on just compensation. Worth reviewing.
The plaintiffs in Goldstein based their pretext claims on both
Adam Liptak reports Issue of Property Rights Is Likely to Arise in Sotomayor’s Confirmation Hearings in the June 14, 2009 edition of the New York Times, comparing SCOTUS nominee Sotomayor’s decision in an infamous (at least in eminent domain circles) case with the positions of the two Justices most recently confirmed to the Court
I just finished reading a recently-published law review article by Missouri Court of Appeals Judge Harold L. Lowenstein, Redevelopment Condemnations: A Blight or a Blessing upon the Land?, 74 Mo. L. Rev. 30 (2009) (available here).
Despite the efforts of legislatures to reform eminent domain, the exercise of eminent domain for private redevelopment
A short video with Jeff Benedict, author of Little Pink House – A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing 2009), which tells the backstory to the infamous Supreme Court eminent domain decision Kelo v. City of New London, 545 U.S. 469 (2005) (available from Amazon here).
More on the book
Second Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, the nominee to fill Justice David Souter’s seat on the U.S. Supreme Court, has served as either a federal District or Circuit Judge for 18 years during which she’s either authored or sat on panels in cases involving eminent domain or regulatory takings. Here’s an admittedly unscientific sampling of those
In County of Hawaii v. C&J Coupe Family Ltd. P’ship, 119 Haw. 352, 198 P.3d 615 (Dec. 24, 2008) (posted here), the court held that a taking is not immune from judicial scrutiny for pretext or private benefit simply because the property is being taken for a “classic” use such as a road.
Under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 101-27,when a condemnation action is “abandoned or discontinued beforereaching a final judgment, or if, for any cause, the property concernedis not finally taken for public use,” the condemnor is liable for:
all such damage as may have been sustained by the defendant by reasonof the bringing of the proceedings
You may remember Mel Brooks’ History of the World: Part I, where Brooks, as King Louis XIV, turns to the camera and exclaims “it’s good to be the King!” each time he takes advantage of one of his subjects.
Well, it turns out that it really is good.
In Eagan Economic Development Authority v. U-Haul Company of Minnesota, No. A08-0767 (May 19, 2009), the Minnesota Court of Appeals held that when a delegation of eminent domain power from a municipality requires a redevelopment agency to enter into a development agreement before acquiring property, the agency is without power to take property until
Under Haw. Rev. Stat. § 101-27, when a condemnation action is “abandoned or discontinued before reaching a final judgment, or if, for any cause, the property concerned is not finally taken for public use,” the condemnor is liable for:
all such damage as may have been sustained by the defendant by reasonof the bringing