Columbus, OH – On Tuesday, The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and overturn its infamous decision in Kelo v. New London, which allows the government to take private property and give it to a private developer.

“In this case, New York has used the court’s decision in Kelo to allow the redistribution of private property without a second thought of the consequences,” said David C. Tryon, director of litigation at The Buckeye Institute. “This case presents a good opportunity for the court to fix the unjust results of Kelo. It is time for the court to overturn Kelo.”

In its brief, The Buckeye Institute highlights several cases where private property was taken by the government and handed over to a private developer, a practice that often impacts poorer neighborhoods with less political power. Buckeye argues that a rejection of Kelo will not spell doom for economic growth and that rather than using eminent domain as a last resort for developers, it is too often used as a cheap way through the obstacle of private property rights.

In the wake of Kelo, Justice O’Connor predicted that “[n]othing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz–Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.” Justice O’Connor’s comments were prescient. In Bowers v. Oneida County Industrial Development Agency—an Institute for Justice case—the government is taking the land of one developer and giving it to another developer so they can build a parking lot.  

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