June 22, 2006

One Year After Kelo, Tennessee Private Property Owners Still At Risk

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research has released an assessment of how well Tennessee private property owners are protected from governmental abuse of eminent domain powers a year after the U.S. Supreme Court's landmark Kelo decision which empowered governments to take private property and give it to private developers for virtually any project for any reason.

Despite passage of new legislation, "Tennesseans aren't any more secure from having their property taken than before the law was passed," says Drew Johnson, president of the Tennessee Center for Policy Research.

One Year After Kelo Ruling, Private Property Remains Vulnerable in Tennessee
New Tennessee law to limit eminent domain abuse offers little protection for property owners
Nashville, TN - Friday marks the one-year anniversary of the infamous Kelo decision in which the Supreme Court determined that governments have the authority to use eminent domain to take homes, businesses and places of worship for private profit.

Tennessee lawmakers responded to the public outrage against the Kelo decision by passing eminent domain legislation. According to the Tennessee Center for Policy Research, however, the new law does not protect property owners enough.

"Tennessee's new eminent domain law is a joke - and the joke is on property owners across the state," said Tennessee Center for Policy Research president Drew Johnson. "Tennesseans aren't any more secure from having their property taken than before the law was passed."

In particular, Johnson says that the law's failure to clearly define blight and its outright encouragement of eminent domain use to acquire land for industrial parks makes it particularly threatening to property owners. The bill, which was signed into law by Governor Bredesen earlier this month, also specifically allows for government taking of private property for playgrounds, recreation centers and land that may one day be turned into a lake.

In the year since the Kelo decision, more than 4,000 properties have been threatened or condemned by governments that hope to transfer properties from their owners to politically connected developers.

"A year after Kelo, Tennesseans must remain vigilant in the defense of their private property rights by encouraging state lawmakers to pass genuine eminent domain reform as soon as possible," Johnson said.

The Tennessee Center for Policy Research is an independent, nonprofit and nonpartisan research organization committed to public policy remedies grounded in the innovation of private enterprise, the ingenuity of individuals and the abilities of active communities to achieve a freer, more prosperous Tennessee. For more information, visit www.tennesseepolicy.org.