Kelo backlash

In 2005 the U.S. Supreme Court held in Kelo v. City of New London that private property can be taken for private economic development to serve a public purpose. In the June 2009 issue of the Minnesota Law Review, Prof. Ilya Somin of George Mason University School of Law reviews the state legislation generated by Kelo. Somin writes: "The Kelo backlash probably resulted in more new state legislation than any other Supreme Court decision in history," and continues:

This Article challenges the validity of claims that the political backlash to Kelo has provided the same level of protection for property owners as would a judicial ban on economic development takings. It is the first comprehensive analysis of the Kelo backlash to date, and finds that the majority of the newly enacted post-Kelo reform laws are likely to be ineffective. It also suggests a tentative explanation for the often ineffective nature of post-Kelo reform: widespread political ignorance that enables state and federal legislators to pass off primarily cosmetic laws as meaningful reforms.

The Limits of Backlash: Assessing the Political Response to Kelo
(pdf, 79pp/424kB), Minnesota Law Review, June 2009