Our Amicus Brief Urging the Supreme Court to Hear Case on Overruling Kelo v. City of New London

Susette Kelo's famous "little pink house,"which became an iconic symbol of the Kelo case. (Institute for Justice)

 

Last month, I wrote about Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, a case in which the Institute for Justice seeks to  persuade the Supreme Court to overrule Kelo v. City of New London (2005). Kelo was the controversial case in which the  Court held that the government could use eminent domain to take property in order to promote private "economic development." Although the Fifth Amendment states the the government may only take private property for "public use," a narrow 5-4 Supreme Court majority built on earlier precedents to rule that virtually any potential public benefit qualifies.