Eminent Domain Us History Definition
Supreme court has affirmed 2005 that private property may be taken for private use that results in a public benefit.
Eminent domain us history definition. The definition of what constitutes a public project has been expanded by the supreme court from highways trade centers airport expansions and other utilities to. Eminent domain permits federal state county or city governments in each state to take ownership of private property for it to be used for general public use with general public purpose meaning. The founders were concerned about the potential abuse of eminent domain an early u s. Eminent domain in the united states refers to the power of a state or the federal government to take private property for public use while requiring just compensation to be given to the original owner.
It can be legislatively delegated by the state to municipalities government subdivisions or even to private persons or corporations when they are authorized to exercise the functions of. Where the gov t is intending to regulate property owner initiates lawsuit claiming the gov t action amount to a taking. Eminent domain has been around now for well over one hundred years in the united states and it is not going away. The term eminent domain was taken from the legal treatise de jure belli ac pacis on the law of war and peace written by the dutch jurist hugo grotius in 1625 which used the term dominium eminens latin for supreme ownership and described the power as follows.
The property of subjects is under the eminent domain of the state so that the state or those who act for it may use. 1625 discussed in the legal discourse de jure belli et pacis by dutch professor of law hugo grotius as dominium eminens latin. If you are a property owner in any way which just about all of us are it is important to know and understand the history behind the power that the government holds. Definition of eminent domain.
Eminent domain the power of government to take private property for public use without the owner s consent. Constitution and has allowed the government to take property for projects such as building highways and parks and to facilitate environmental conservation and urban renewal. Eminent domain as we know it today can be traced to the latin term eminenes dominium which referred to a government s power to appropriate private property for the public s use with or without the property owner s consent. The power of the government to force transfers of property from owners to itself where the gov t intends to take the property.
The concept of eminent domain dates back to ancient times but in the u s the power of eminent domain rests in the takings clause of the fifth amendment of the u s. Supreme court decision even.