Princeton University

On November 9, 2007, the Policy Research Institute for the Region (PRIOR) and the Penn Institute for Urban Research hosted Land and Power: The Impact of Eminent Domain in Urban Communities, at which experts offered incisive and evenhanded analyses of multiple issues surrounding eminent domain in the wake of the 2005 Kelo v. City of New London decision. Nearly 100 scholars, students, advocates, public officials and practitioners gathered at the Woodrow Wilson School for a day-long program highlighted by original research and thoughtful dialogue. 

 

The event featured a keynote address by New Jersey Public Advocate Ronald Chen, who detailed his office’s extensive efforts to prevent abuses and propose reforms in the practice of eminent domain within the state. In addition, individual sessions focused on how government policies, media campaigns and advocacy initiatives have shaped the employment and perception of eminent domain in New Jersey, New York and Pennsylvania.

 

Drawing on case studies to illuminate the pre-Kelo and post-Kelo legislative environment in the region, Patricia Salkin, Associate Dean and Director of the Government Law Center of Albany Law School, delivered “The Kelo Effect in New York, New Jersey and Pennsylvania: Assessing the Impact of Kelo in the Tri-State Region.”  In her paper “Eminent Domain as Trojan Horse: How the Property Rights Movement Is Misusing Kelo to Advance a Radical Agenda,” Jennifer Bradley of Community Rights Counsel explored how groups and actors have relied on the Kelo decision to advance individual agenda. Finally, Lynne Sagalyn, Professor of Real Estate Development and Planning at the University of Pennsylvania, explored how media portrayals of eminent domain have influenced public opinion in her work, “Positioning Politics: Kelo, Eminent Domain and the Press.”