Pros And Cons Of Eminent Domain

Eminent domain in definition is “the right or power of public purposes without the owner’s consent

Should the United States government be allowed to seize property from you without any explanation or compensation? That is a question many people in the U.S. are asking themselves today. Eminent domain should not be allowed in the United States for several reasons. People own buildings that they do not want destroyed because they are family dwellings or places of business. People have money invested in the buildings and the property they sit on and do not feel it is right to lose it to the government. There are also the property owners who want to protect their property because it has been handed down in their family for many generations.

The Kelo vs City of New London case is one that was decided by the Supreme Court of the United States with the issue involving eminent domain. Eminent domain is the transfer of property from one private party (Kelo) to a public party (City of New London), with proper compensation. The case brought to light the difference between what is considered to be public use and what is the best public purpose. Susette Kelo and fellow property owners owned property that was condemned by the city of New London to be used as further economic development. The properties were taken from the owners due to the fact a pharmaceutical company named Pfizer Inc, was planning to build a facility in the area which gave the New

The Louisiana Purchase happened in 1803 when Thomas Jefferson purchased the Louisiana Territory from the French for fifteen million dollars. The Louisiana Territory extended from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west and from the Canadian border in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south. I believe that there were just as many disadvantages to the Louisiana Purchase for President Thomas Jefferson as there were advantages. The advantages were that the purchase removed France from North America, doubled the size of America, allowed the United states to acquire more fertile land, and gain control of the Mississippi River and New Orleans. The disadvantages were that America had to defend a country that was doubled in size, they had to supervise how Americans settled the new land, deal with more Native Americans, and the purchase was against Jefferson's beliefs.

America's government system is powerful. One way the government flexes their muscles is through eminent domain. Eminent domain is the government's power to seize land from one and give it over to another. Most times, eminent domain is used to improve the city. There are a lot of tensions between whether eminent domain is morally right or even constitutional.

Eminent Domain is the government's right under the Fifth Amendment to acquire privately owned property for public use - to build a road, a school or a courthouse. Under eminent domain, the government buys your property, paying you what's determined to be fair market value. In recent years, there has been much debate over the appropriateness of eminent domain, and further its legality in specific instances. The government is allowed to seize personal property for private use if they can prove that doing it will serve what's called "the public good". There have been many cases brought up against the government in attempt to regulate the government's power in seizing private property. There is a political push for reform to the eminent

Imagine getting a visitor at your front door, and the visitor offers you a very generous amount of money for them to take you property for public use. For some people it is the property they grew up on, and for others it is the property that has been passed down through family generations. That is what happens when private property owners experience eminent domain. Eminent domain can be a wonderful thing for big companies and powerful leaders. On the other hand, people lose their homes, or perhaps their farmland. Those who offer eminent domain often have big plans that can benefit a community, but the huge loss here is people losing their homes. Most companies will only enforce eminent domain if they have no other choice. Other companies do it purely for themselves. Eminent domain should be used for the good of mankind, because it has the power to put some good places in this world if done correctly.

In the Kelo case, Legal Reasoning was prevalent in application of law to the outcome of the decision. Justice Stevens followed the guidelines that it was the courts duty to determine the wisdom of the government’s attempt to exercise eminent domain, and that the court should not allow its decision to be deviated by the hardship that one might incur when unwillingly relinquishing their home or property. The large media influence on the Kelo strengthened the importance of Legal Reasoning even more. The court found it necessary to remove all emotions involved in listening about an individual that was about to lose the home that they had lived in their entire life and make a decision that would be for the better good of the people.

While the Government holds complete authority over the owner's property, they guarantee fair and adequate compensation for the owner in the event which he or she forced out of their property - this is the law. As well as offering fair and adequate compensation, the Government may not take or begin construction on the property until definite arrangements have been made for payments (Sargent and Wallace 6-9). However, landowners are not always forced off of their property. Many times the families living in these areas were moved because of the tremendous property damage, flood damage, or the fact that their land interferred with government property (BonaLaw 1). When land is purchased through the Government the landowner is offered “Just Compensation,” meaning that the owners of the property will be offered the highest selling price that their land will sell for (Sargent and Wallace

With reference to the case of the Kelo v. city of New London, the court ruled that the government should take private property through eminent domain for public use. This is due to the provisions of Fifth Amendment of the U.S constitution. New London, Connecticut, could exercise eminent domain for economic development. New London, Connecticut, was experiencing hard economic times majorly due to the closure of the U.S. Naval Undersea Warfare Center, which was the major employer in the region. This prompted a decrease in the tax base and population in general. This made the city leaders desperate for some development in the city’s economy. Afterwards, a pharmaceutical giant Pfizer started to construct a facility used for research in the outskirts of New London. This was the only chance for the city to activate the

What would you do if you were offered millions of dollars for your land? Yes that right, the Indian tribes were moved out thanks to the Indian removal act of 1830. These Indian tribes were living in Louisiana. After the war of 1812 ended, the U.S. had purchased Louisiana from France. After exploring the land they chose to kick the Indian tribes forcefully because for the things they accomplished in the past. That’s what lead to the Indian removal act of 1830. The Indian removal act of 1830 was not justified because the Indians claimed their land first, the U.S. treated the Indians poorly, and it overall helped out the government.

The seizure of private property by the government with compensation to the owner is known as eminent domain. The compensation that the owners receive is supposed to be fair market value. Eminent domain includes forcing citizens to sell their property for the use of private commercial development. Eminent domain comes from a moralistic culture. Those who are liberal are concerned with the greater good of the public. Liberals believe that eminent domain should be allowed, so long as those who are losing their property are compensated. Liberals believe it is okay if it is for the benefit of the public. However, conservatives are also concerned with the public. They are opposed to seizure of private property to achieve a public goal. Conservatives believe it is not right to force people to sell their property in most cases.

The constitution puts it out clear that the person whose private property has been seized for public use is entitled to just compensation, which is a fair current cash market value of the property in question. This is quoted to be the price that a willing buyer would give and a willing seller would accept for the property. This is why it is referred to as the fair price because it was where the buyer and seller would reach at a consensus. Eminent Domain has affected very many people across all the counties in the United States of America each and every year. One such instance is that which occurred in 2002 in Long Beach, NJ.

The power of eminent domain was originally solely exclusive to the federal government. The ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment extended this power to the states, but Supreme Court decisions in the 1870s “refused to extend the just compensation requirement of the Fifth Amendment to the states under the Fourteenth Amendment,” and consequently, abuse of the power was common (Jost). Twenty eight years after the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, the “just compensation” clause was applied to the states by Chicago, Burlington & Quincy Railroad v. Chicago, in which the Bill of Rights was declared to also apply to the actions of state governments in an attempt to stop the series of uncompensated takings and other abuses. These abuses continue

These days there have been many issues surrounding the topic of private property and eminent domain. I feel that eminent domain is a good way to keep the needs of the community and each person’s individual property rights balanced. Even though I believe individual property rights are more important that the needs of the community, I also believe the government sometimes has to take that property away for the better good of the community. At the same time I also understand how people feel when they talk about “NIMBY” (not in my back yard), and also about their personal needs.