Reason Foundation

Recent Research and Commentary

New Book on Eminent Domain and Property Rights Available

July 8, 2010, 10:45am

Samuel Staley

Florida State University economist Bruce Benson has edited an extensive collection of pro-property rights essays in a new book called "Property Right" and just released by Palgrave-McMillan and the Independent Institute

Taken By Regulation

The 9th Circuit considers the constitutionality of rent control

June 11, 2010

Damon W. Root

According to the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, “private property [shall not] be taken for public use without just compensation.” The classic example of this is eminent domain, where the government seizes property, compensates the owner with taxpayer dollars, and puts the property to an alleged public use. But what happens when government regulations violate property rights? Do regulatory takings require just compensation as well?

The Blight Stops Here?

Why New York's highest court should stand up against Columbia University's eminent domain abuse.

May 27, 2010

Damon W. Root

On June 1, New York’s Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in Kaur v. Urban Development Corporation. At issue is the state’s controversial use of eminent domain on behalf of Columbia University, which wants free rein to build a sweeping new 17-acre research campus in the West Harlem neighborhood of Manhattanville. To that end, Columbia joined forces with the Empire State Development Corporation (ESDC), the powerful yet little-known state agency authorized to bypass zoning laws and seize private property via eminent domain. In July 2008 the ESDC declared Manhattanville to be “blighted,” the state of severe economic disrepair required to trigger an eminent domain taking under state law.

Confiscating Your Property

How asset forfeiture laws violate individual rights

May 20, 2010

John Stossel

In America, we're supposed to be innocent until proven guilty. Life, liberty, and property can't be taken from you unless you're convicted of a crime.

Your life and liberty may still be safe, but have you ever gone to a government surplus auction? Consumer reporters like me tell people, correctly, that they are great places to find bargains. People can buy bikes for $10, cars for $500.

For Singles Suburbia Reigns

April 19, 2010, 1:04pm

Samuel Staley

A survey of new home purchases by singles found that 53 percent bought their homes in suburbs or rural areas

Big Blighters

How developers use "blight" as a pretext to get the land they covet

December 9, 2009

Jacob Sullum

After Kelo v. City of New London, the 2005 decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court approved the forcible transfer of property from one private owner to another in the name of “economic development,” 43 states passed reforms that were supposed to curb eminent domain abuses. But most states still allow condemnation of property deemed to be “blighted,” and many of them define that condition so broadly that it has become a synonym for coveted, as illustrated by two recent New York cases.

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