Description

Eminent Domain and City Redevelopment in California: An Overview and Case Study

The expansion of regulatory authority by government at all levels — city, county, state, and federal — has resulted in an attack upon the intent of the framers of the U.S. Constitution to protect property ownership. Measures such as eminent domain have allowed government to increase the taking of property. The purpose of this article is to discuss the use of eminent domain by government to seize property from owners, especially homeowners. Specifically examined is the general use of eminent domain strategies by cities and counties to take property from homeowners to benefit private commercial interests rather than public interests. The article provides an overview of the notion of eminent domain, a discussion of Kelo v. City of New London (125 S. Ct. 2655 [2005]) regarding the use of eminent domain to circumvent homeowner property rights, and a case study of how homeowners in Riverside County, California, responded to the taking of their property by local government agencies.

eminent domain, redevelopment, Kelo v. City of New London, Riverside, California

Citation: Social Justice Vol. 33, No. 3 (2006): 101-113