The grasping hand

de Ilya Somin

In 2005, the Supreme Court ruled that the city of New London, Connecticut, could condemn 15 residential properties in order to transfer them to a new private owner. Although the Fifth Amendment only permits the taking of private property for 'public use,' the Court ruled that the transfer of condemned land to private parties for 'economic development' is permitted by the Constitution even if the government cannot prove that the expected development will ever actually happen. The court's decision in Kelo volume City of New London empowered the grasping hand of the state at the expense of the invisible hand of the market. In this detailed study of one of the most controversial Supreme Court cases in modern times, Ilya Somin argues that Kelo was a grave error.