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Kelo V. City of New London

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Submitted By dbeck05
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Eminent domain is described as the power of the government to take private property for public use. The “Taking’s Clause” is described in the United States Constitution as “..Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”. In the case of Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, the city of New London did not violate the Taking’s Clause. It is stated in the case that the city purchased the property of 15 of the 24 owners. They were taking the property to build a research facility, a hotel and also stores and private residences. These are all for public use. Of course I can see how the homeowners would think that it was more for private use, the city of New London would be making profits from the sale of residential property and also from the building of the businesses. However they are for public use. Since the government had to take the landowners to court the government had to file suit to seek “condemnation” of the land. This is just stating that they are offering a just price for the land and awarding the title to the government. This was the case a few years back in the county I live in. I live in Crawford County, Ohio and the State of Ohio was working to rebuild a public highway. While they were offering large amounts of money to the land owners, a few of them tried to stand strong and not sell. Unfortunately they were forced to sell and then received less than the other landowners. I understand why they didn’t want to sell; these properties had been in their families for decades. The properties had been passed down from generation to generation only to be taken by the state. Rumor had it for a while that the state was just coming in and taking the land without offering any compensation. However, we see that in the Constitution this is not the case. It is illegal to just take someone’s land. While these landowners did receive just compensation, I am sure they wish they would have sold prior to the time they did for the most money. Everyone knows you cannot fight the government when it comes to Eminent Domain.
REFERENCES:

Beatty, J. F., & Samuelson, S. S. (2013). Introduction to Business Law (4th ed.). Cengage Learning.

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