The story behind Kelo

When we talk about Supreme Court cases in planning, it often seems like they are truly an unique local conflict that was so fiercely fought that the Supreme Court's involvement seemed inevitable. Afterwards, many decisions seem accepted as inevitable and unquestionable.

But reading about Kelo v. New London, we see that the way the case bubbled up and how the decision was received are not like that at all.

Ilya Somin is a Professor of Law at George Mason who blogs for the Washington Post on this topic. He wrote a series of posts last year when his new book on the case was released. One of the posts provides insight into how such an obscure case became a foundational decision on eminent domain and property rights. He followed up with a detailed post about the public and political response to the decision.

He also has blogged responses to comments by Donald Trump on eminent domain. First, when Trump told an interviewer that eminent domain "is not taking property." And a second time when, during a primary debate, Trump said that the property owner "gets a fortune."   Finally, you can watch a short news video about the Trump case.