Case brief summary
The government can only take private property for 'public use' if it pays fairly. Courts have long said 'public use' means any legitimate public purpose, not just things people directly use.
Facts
New London approved a plan to replace a struggling neighborhood with offices, housing, and a hotel to create jobs and tax money. The city took homes from unwilling owners, even though the homes were not unsafe or run down.
Procedural history
Property owners sued in state court. The trial court allowed some takings but blocked others. Connecticut's Supreme Court upheld all the takings. The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to review the case.
Issue
Can a city take private property and give it to private developers for economic development, counting as 'public use,' even when the land isn't run down and businesses will use it instead of the public?
Holding
Yes. The Supreme Court held that the city's economic development plan served a public purpose and therefore satisfied the public use requirement, even though the land would end up in private hands.
Reasoning
Courts have long treated 'public use' as 'public purpose' and trust lawmakers' judgment on public benefit. The city had a thoughtful plan to create jobs and revive the area, with no sign it was secretly helping one company.
Opinions
Majority (Stevens): Economic development is a valid public purpose, and courts should defer to the city's comprehensive, carefully considered redevelopment plan absent evidence of favoritism toward a private party.
Concurrences (Kennedy): Agrees with the majority but says courts should still carefully check the record for proof that a taking mainly favors a particular private party rather than the public.
Dissent (O'Connor): Economic development takings erase the line between public and private use, letting government take anyone's home and give it to a more profitable private owner, which the Constitution forbids.
Dissent (Thomas): The Court has strayed from the original meaning of 'public use,' which required actual public ownership or use, and this ruling will harm poor and politically weak communities most.