Takings, take 2: eminent domain in state courts.

• Author: Sullum, Jacob
• Position: Citings - Brief Article

ACCORDING TO the U.S. Supreme Court's 2005 ruling in Kelo v. New London, almost any commercial enterprise could be a "public use" justifying the forced transfer of property from one private owner to another. But state courts, where the battle over eminent domain is now shifting, do not necessarily agree.

In September, Maricopa County, Arizona, Superior Court Judge Kenneth Fields blocked a plan to seize land from 13 property owners for a shopping mall. Among other things, Fields noted that "the property will be used for private commercial use" and that "profit, not public improvement, is the motivating force for this redevelopment." His decision, based on a provision of the state constitution that says property "may not be taken for private use," cited a 2003 Arizona Court of Appeals ruling that prevented the city of Mesa from condemning a brake shop for the benefit of a hardware store.

Another state to watch is Ohio, where the Supreme Court agreed in October to hear an appeal by property owners fighting a redevelopment project in Norwood. The city...