Debunking the Urban (Planning) Legends About Kelo

Abstract

In Kelo, the petitioners asked the Supreme Court to do something it had never done before—strike “economic development” and “tax base enhancement” from the set of “conceivable public purposes.” The property owners didn't seriously dispute that those were valid governmental objectives, or that condemning property can rationally further those goals. They wanted those objectives stricken from the list of “public purposes” so that property owners would win more often. It was an effort at revolutionary change that nearly succeeded.