Eminent Domain

Court has a chance to reverse course on bad 2005 ruling

This will be a busy week for the U.S. Supreme Court. The justices will likely wrap up their term in a few days but not before considering whether to accept several important cases, with decisions coming after the court begins a new term in October.

One of the cases could be very consequential to local governments, business developers and property owners.

Back in 2005, the court narrowly ruled the city of New London, Connecticut, could use eminent domain to seize private property from its owners and resell it to private developers. The idea was the city had an interest in seeing the property put to better use that would boost the local economy — and generate more tax revenue.

Under the U.S. Constitution, it was accepted eminent domain was limited to property taken for public use, such as new highways. The New London ruling upended that principle. The late Associate Justice Antonin Scalia, who dissented, called it one of the biggest mistakes the court ever made. The ruling was widely criticized, with some observers calling it legal theft.

The current case involves a Chicago man who had his property seized by the city through eminent domain after he turned down an offer of more than $800,000. The city then transferred the property to a chocolate company located next door for expansion.

We agreed with Scalia when the 2005 ruling came out and we still think it was an a front to the Constitution and basic property rights. We hope the court decides to take the case — and gives more respect to private property rights.