Symposium – Eminent Domain: In the Aftermath of Kelo v. New London, a Resurrection in Norwood: One Public Interest Attorney's View

21 Pages Posted: 9 Mar 2011 Last revised: 24 Apr 2012

Date Written: 2006

Abstract

Three months before residents of New London, Connecticut, went to court in Kelo v. City of New London, I recall reading a side note about a family distraught in a different town. The family-friendly restaurant named Orlissie's, located in Oak Park, Illinois, had succumbed to the threat of eminent domain. The unfortunate news of a restaurant closing was more common, partly because of the continued and disturbing increase in the number of eminent-domain acquisitions occurring across the country.

As a public-interest attorney employed by one of the leading defenders of entrepreneurs, small businesses, and homeowners, and as former corporate counsel to a multinational corporation, I knew that this would not be the last time a business or homeowner would lose his or her property because of eminent domain. At the same time, I believed that this was yet another horrific example of a business owner losing the battle over developing property to run a business, in the manner and in the location he or she chose.

Property owners, in dilemmas similar to that of the Oak Park business owner, are not typically in a position to successfully defend the taking of their private property. The cause is as much a function of the property owner's financial and political wherewithal to challenge even the threat of eminent domain, as it is the contemporary presumption that eminent domain is, overall, beneficial.

Keywords: Property, Eminent Domain, Business & Corporate Law, Civil Rights Law

Suggested Citation

Lee, Patricia Hureston, Symposium – Eminent Domain: In the Aftermath of Kelo v. New London, a Resurrection in Norwood: One Public Interest Attorney's View (2006). Western New England Law Review, Vol. 29, Issue 1, pp. 121-140, 2006, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=1781362

Patricia Hureston Lee (Contact Author)

Loyola University Chicago Law School ( email )

25 East Pearson Street
Chicago, IL 60611
United States

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