Government Exercise Eminent Domain

The Fifth Amendment provides states and the federal government with the ability to exercise eminent domain and holds that “No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.” If a state or the federal government takes a citizen’s property, it must be for ‘public use’ and the government must provide ‘just compensation.’
However many issues arise with the exercise of eminent domain power, which can involve either an outright taking for public use or a substantial encumbrance of a property owner
In such instances, the government has taken property and provided individuals with just compensation, which some argue is meager compensation. The taking is then later transferred to certain corporations or developers by virtue of governmental eminent domain power. Such decisions, like Kelo v. City of New London, are considered to be a breach of public trust. Alexandre pointedly argues that eminet domain “positions individuals’ sacrosanct” property rights against governmental “need” in exercising “decisions consistent with the welfare of the general public.”
For one, many scholars, such as Underkuffler, contend that “The right to the protection of individual property is widely considered to be a bedrock principle of American constitutional law, akin to the protection of freedom of speech, freedom of religion, due process of law, and other constitutional guarantees.” Cases of gentrification indicate that takings have negatively impacted low income and minority communities. Moreover, the particular makeup and character of those communities sometimes drastically change through the social and economic process of
I intend to discuss the inequity for individuals and communities affected by gentrification and then discuss democracy and equality in just takings' cases. Other issues that will be explored are the government's use of eminent domain in cases where the government needs to use an individual's land for public use. Particularly, where the government desires to build public buildings or support an industry in that area. The inequities would be in the government's abuse of power in those