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The Latest Breaking News from Kelo

Life as an Academic Defender of the Intuitively Obvious

Academics are supposed to discover nonobvious, counterintituitive truths. But, especially in recent years, much of my work involves defending positions that seem obvious to most laypeople, even though many experts deny them.

Reason

7 Times Homeowners Lost Everything Over a Technicality

It’s every homeowner’s nightmare: losing your home not to natural disaster or foreclosure, but a tiny technicality you never saw coming. These stories aren’t about irresponsible borrowers… They’re about people blindsided by obscure laws and bureaucratic mistakes. From unpaid tax fees to lost paperwork, these homeowners lost everything, and many…

Clever Dude

My Forthcoming Article on " Public Use, Exclusionary Zoning, and Democracy"

It is part of the Yale Journal on Regulation Symposium on the 20th Anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London.

Reason

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New Jersey Town Seeks to Condemn Church to Build a Park and Pickleball Courts

The move may be a pretext for blocking the church's plan to build a homeless shelter. If the town proceeds, it will face near-certain litigation under the federal and state constitutions.

Reason

Upcoming Speaking Engagements

Ilya Somin's upcoming speaking engagements.

Reason

Judge Orders Rhode Island Town To Return Secretly Seized Land to Affordable Housing Developer

Plus: the federal government tries to stiff landlords over eviction moratorium one last time, the Supreme Court declines to take up eminent domain case, and starter home bills advance in Arizona and Texas.

Reason

Lawsuit Challenges Use of Eminent Domain as NIMBY Tool to Block Housing Project

A Rhode Island town seeks to use eminent domain to block construction of a large-scale affordable housing project.

Reason

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Supreme Court Can Protect Property Owners From Eminent Domain Abuse

A Utica, New York, land grab offers the justices an opportunity to revisit a widely criticized precedent.

Reason

The Government Took a Developer's Land and Gave It to a Competitor. In New York, That's Business As Usual.

The case gives the Supreme Court an opportunity to revisit a widely reviled decision that invited such eminent domain abuses.

Reason

Short Circuit: A Roundup of Recent Federal Appeals Court Decisions

Rolodexes, rabbit holes, and challenge coins.

Reason

Supreme Court Refuses to Hear "Passive Park" Public Use Property Rights Case

While I am eager for the Court to take another public use case, I am actually happy the justices chose to reject this one. Its unusual facts made it a poor vehicle for revisiting Kelo v. City of New London.

Reason

Learning the Wrong Lessons From the Eminent Domain Legacy at Chavez Ravine

Progressives are trying to fix the errors of the past, but they're ignoring the best solution: More robust property rights.

Reason

Interview on the Eminent Domain Podcast

Bobby Debelak, new host of this podcast, interviewed me about a variety of topics related to eminent domain and property rights.

Reason

Second Circuit Rules that a "Passive Park" Qualifies as a Public Use Authorizing Use of Eminent Domain—Even if this Rationale is a Pretext for a Desire to Block Private Owners' Plan to Build a Hardware Store

The case raises an important issue about what qualifies as a "pretextual" taking. It's a rare takings issue on which I don't have a clear position.

Reason

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Chicago Sun-Times

Justice Sandra Day O’Connor’s legacy includes two impactful dissents in 2005

Her position in Kelo v. New London was partly vindicated when some states enacted laws aimed at discouraging eminent domain abuse, Jacob Sullum writes.

Reason

Justice O'Connor's Parting Dissents Highlighted the Twin Perils of Local Tyranny and Federal Overreach

The late Supreme Court justice eloquently defended property rights and state autonomy.

Reason

Sandra Day O'Connor, RIP

She was the first woman Supreme Court justice, and played a key role in changing the Court's jurisprudence for the better on several issues.

Reason

Academics Pick their "Most Underappreciated" Articles [Updated]

Econ Journal Watch asked academics with high citation counts to pick their most underappreciated article. I participated in the project, along with a number of prominent scholars from various disciplines.

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Reason

Justice Scalia's Unpublished Dissent in Kelo v. City of New London

Its existence was revealed when Justice John Paul Stevens' papers were made public earlier this week.

Reason

What I Hope to Learn from Justice Stevens' Papers on Kelo v. City of New London

The author of one of the Supreme Court's most widely hated rulings left us extensive files on the case, which have just been made public. They could help shed light on key unanswered questions about.

Reason

North Carolina Using Eminent Domain To Seize Homes and a Church for Electric Car Factory

Under the Kelo v. New London Supreme Court decision, a state can take private land to give to a private developer for almost any reason it wants.

Reason

New York's Ultra-Broad Definition of "Blight" Continues to Enable Eminent Domain Abuse

In this case, it enables the state to declare the area around Penn Station in New York City "blighted" and thereby authorize the use of eminent domain to take property for transfer to private interests.

Reason

Do the Supreme Court's Low Approval Ratings Show it is Undergoing a "Legitimacy Crisis"?

Reason

Reversing Roe v. Wade Wouldn't be the First Time the Supreme Court Gutted Precedents that Protect Individual Rights - Far From it

That fact doesn't necessarily justify overruling Roe. Depending on how it's viewed, the history of such reversals may even counsel against further such moves.

People

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