\u3cem\u3eKelo\u3c/em\u3e Compensation: The Future of Economic Development Takings

The recent Supreme Court decision in Kelo v. City of New London has dramatically expanded takings jurisprudence, granting municipalities the power to take from one private owner for the economic benefit of both private developers and communities at large. Although the expansion has great potential to create necessary benefits for various municipalities, the victims of the takings, private owners who are stripped of their property, are now cast in a brighter light. This article argues that there is no longer the same balance there once was with takings, namely property being taken for a purely public use in exchange for fair market value or just compensation. In this new era where private developers team up with municipalities to create economic growth, fair market value is no longer just. Where private developers also reap benefits from the taking, not just the public at large, fair market value becomes an archaic excuse to keep profits up. Therefore, a new method of valuing taken property that more closely conforms to the just standard set forth by the founding fathers is necessary to preserve faith in the government and eminent domain