Eminent Domain Reactions Imminent as Legislative Sessions Resume
by Ed Thomas
September 21, 2005
(AgapePress) - With most of the state legislatures out of session, little new action is expected to be immediately forthcoming in response to the controversial Kelo v. New London eminent domain ruling. But Larry Morandi, an analyst for the National Conference of State Legislatures, expects that to change when the lawmaking bodies get back in session over the winter. Morandi notes that the majority of the state legislatures had already adjourned their sessions in June when the Supreme Court ruled on Kelo v. New London. A few states, such as Texas and Alabama, already had special sessions planned for other agenda, and used that time to draft new laws that addressed eminent domain as well.
The rest of the states, Morandi expects, will follow suit when their lawmakers return from the interim, and he says there should be quite a few new bills beginning January 2006, "when roughly 44 states will come back into session. At that point I expect most if not all of them to have some type of legislation addressing the Kelo decision."
The legislative analyst says many of those states have pre-filed legislation that will be among the first on the agendas when sessions start back up. In the meantime, he notes, many municipal governments have been active over the summer with various bans or severe tightening of local ordinances to restrict private property seizure for commercial development.
"The sharp, grassroots criticism of the Kelo ruling has caused a re-evaluation by municipalities, developers, and bankers," Morandi contends. In addition to the municipalities, he says state lawmakers are likewise set to respond actively in upcoming sessions, even in New London's home state of Connecticut.
"The outcry since the decision has come around has made legislators in every state kind of reassess where they are on eminent domain," the National Conference consultant notes. "Even in the State of Connecticut, which won the decision, the legislature is holding hearings right now. They're not in session, but committees are meeting to try to figure out what they might want to do when they come back."
A recent story in the Washington Post newspaper detailed the withdrawal of funding by a Missouri bank for a planned mall in Sunset Hills, which would have required the buyout of a subdivision through eminent domain. Morandi says that appears to be just one more in a number of reactions to and reconsiderations of Kelo across the U.S.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
