Analysis the concept of “Eminent Domain” Case Study Public Use Clause with special reference to “Kelo” case

Abstract

Eminent Domain is the legal term describing the government's right to take private property, without the owner’s consent, to provide some benefit to the public use, but the power of eminent domain and the classic freedom stemming from property rights are fundamentally opposed. So the power may be invoked only for a public purpose, but what constitutes public purpose is wide open to interpretation and use. This article interprets the “public use” clause & presents narrow & broad definition of public use within eminent domain law through a case study the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London and decisions in several other important cases are problematic. The article concludes that the theory of public use based on secret purchases and private influence provides a socially desirable, administrable, and constitutional mechanism for distinguishing between public and private uses and reforming the law of eminent domain. v,kni

Keywords

• public use
• eminent domain
• private property
• kelo case
• economic development