The Kelo Decision and the Fourteenth Amendment

In the Kelo decision, the city of New London, Connecticut, exercised the power of eminent domain to seize the private property of Susette Kelo and eight other petitioners who owned a total of fifteen properties in the historic Fort Trumbull area of the city. The property owners claimed that the forfeiture of their property violated the “takings” clause of the Fifth Amendment (“nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation”) because their property was seized for an economic development scheme that was, according to the Connecticut Supreme Court that ruled against the petitioners, “projected to create in excess of 1,000 jobs, to increase tax and other revenues, and to revitalize an economically distressed city, including its downtown and waterfront areas.”

Volume 21, Number 2 (2007)