Post-Kelo Reforms: Far From 'Phony'

by David Skinner

Published in the Daily Journal, December 7, 2009
Posted with the permission of Daily Journal Corporation, 2009.

Following the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London, some have argued that legislators have not taken sufficient action to prevent future eminent domain abuses, particularly in California. In Kelo, a 5-4 majority of the Supreme Court upheld New London's use of eminent domain to acquire Susette Kelo's home for an economic revitalization project by a private developer. That project has since fallen through, and Pfizer Inc., the pharmaceutical company whose operations were supposed to anchor the redevelopment, recently announced plans to close its New London facility.

Since Kelo, California voters and legislators have indeed enacted significant reforms that provide property owners with real protection.

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