June 25, 2010 7:24AM

Fifth Anniversary of Kelo v. New London

By Ilya Shapiro

With all the property rights news coming out of the Supreme Court and New York Court of Appeals in the last week, I almost missed Wednesday’s fifth anniversary of the dreadful Kelo v. New London decision. Justice Stevens’s  opinion in Kelo sanctioned a transfer of private property from homeowners to a big company in the name of (promised but, as we’ve seen, never realized) job creation and increased tax revenue. 


This was a Pyrrhic victory for eminent domain abusers, however, given:

  • 9 state high courts have limited eminent domain powers;
  • 43 state legislatures have passed greater property rights reform;
  • 44 eminent domain abuse projects have been defeated by grassroots activists;
  • 88 percent of the public now believes that property rights are as important as free speech and freedom of religion.

To learn about these and other fascinating developments that turned a property rights lemon into at least some type of lemonade, see the Institute for Justice’s new report and video.