Post-Kelo America

Reason reports:

Consider the 20 states that have the largest numbers of Kelo-like condemnations, according to data compiled by the Institute for Justice, the public interest law firm that represented the property owners in Kelo. Thirteen of them have enacted either ineffective legislation or none at all. Moreover, two of the states with otherwise effective reforms exempted the parts of those states where most condemnations occur. Pennsylvania’s reform includes a five-year exemption for Philadelphia and Pittsburgh, and Minnesota’s exempts the Twin Cities area, also for five years. By then, the political uproar over Kelo will likely have subsided, making it easier to extend the exemptions without much public scrutiny.

Similar shortcomings have bedeviled reform efforts at the federal level. President Bush’s June 23, 2006, executive order on Kelo, for example, banned the use of eminent domain for “private development,” but allowed takings for private owners who promise to use the land for both private and “public” development. This is the exact argument accepted by the Supreme Court in Kelo, and therefore does little to mitigate the decision’s reach. Legislation enacted by Congress in 2005 has been similarly ineffective.

Time to get rid of eminent domain.