Bulldozed:'Kelo,' Eminent Domain and the American Lust for Land - Hardcover

Main, Carla T.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1594031932 ISBN 13: 9781594031939

Publisher: Encounter Books, 2007

Synopsis

No domestic policy issue more angers or galvanizes the public than the controversy over eminent domain-the taking of private property for public use. The stakes in this always controversial procedure have been dramatically raised in recent years as eminent domain has been used to fund private development. As the notorious Kelo case in New London, CT demonstrated last year. The practice of using eminent domain to enrich municipalities is an incendiary issue. Veteran journalist, Carla Main, takes a hard look at this practice and delivers an incisive expose that is sure to be widely read and hotly debated.

About this title

From the Publisher

"When I was a very young attorney in New York City, I worked on condemnations for public authorities that were building public projects. I was moved by the plight of the business owners who came forward to testify at the public hearings. They explained how the takings were going to destroy everything they had worked for. These condemnations were taking place in extremely poor neighborhoods and most of the business owners were immigrants. Those hearings put a human face on the process of eminent domain and made clear the toll such policies take on the very communities they set out to help. I learned that lesson early and I have not forgotten it."

-Carla T. Main

"It is a rare issue, in an age of partisan polarization, that can unite libertarians and liberals. The governmental power of eminent domain, now employed for private profit, is one such issue. This spreading practice pits class against class, wealth against ordinary property-owning citizens, and government power against the powerless. Carla Main's vivid account of the history surrounding the Supreme Court's Kelo decision should frighten every property-owning American and make us all wonder where Tom Paine is when we need him."

--Gary Hart, United States Senator (ret.)

"Like a Greek tragedy unfolding, Carla Main's book chronicles the eminent domain struggles in Freeport, Texas, which pitted the Gore family, with its longtime shrimp business, against the machinations of an unholy alliance between city politicians and avaricious developers. If you have ever shared the Supreme Court's unquestioned deference to the public planning process that shaped its ill-fated Kelo decision, you'll surely change your mind as you follow this sordid saga to its bitter end. You'll never look at eminent domain in the same way again."

--Richard A. Epstein, Professor of Law, University of Chicago; Senior Fellow, Hoover Institution; and author of Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain

"Bulldozed tells the people story behind the great eminent domain cases: Kelo v. New London, Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit, and Western Seafood v. Freeport, Texas. To understand the impact of eminent domain on real people, read Bulldozed. A big bonus is that Carla Mains has written a page-turner."

--John Norquist, President and CEO of the Congress for the New Urbanism

About the Author

A practicing attorney for ten years, Carla Main litigated a wide variety of commercial cases involving real-estate-related disputes, the First Amendment, fraud, art law, and civil rights. Until 2005 Ms. Main was an Associate Editor of The National Law Journal, where she wrote a column on law and society. She writes frequently for The National Review, Policy Review, The American Lawyer, and The New York Post, among many other publications. Ms. Main resides in New Jersey.

Edition details

• Publisher: Encounter Books
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 1594031932
• ISBN 13: 9781594031939
• Binding: Hardcover
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 330