Arguing Kelo Then and Now

Kelo v. City of New London was the quintessential public-interest case, featuring a cutting-edge legal issue, determined plaintiffs, and clear abuses of government power. Twenty years later, some of its most important lessons remain underexplored. We see the importance of political power in private-development takings through the fact that the government spared a well-connected property owner from eminent domain—the Italian Dramatic Club—while insisting on destruction at all costs for others. The ensuing backlash, with forty-seven states changing their laws in response to the decision, demonstrates the widespread disapproval of the cavalier way that local governments used eminent domain and disregarded its effects on the lives of ordinary people. With the Supreme Court having an originalist majority, now is a good time for the Court to reconsider Kelo and revive constitutional limits on the eminent-domain power.