Save Our Blight

Jacob Sullum | August 30, 2006

The Institute for Justice has a new eminent domain case, representing homeowners in Long Branch, New Jersey, who are resisting a "blight" designation that would allow the city to take their property for redevelopment. The case illustrates one of the ways in which the Kelo v. New London decision didn't change things: Even before that ruling, the U.S. Supreme Court had long permitted the use of eminent domain as a remedy for blight, which is in the eye of the beholder—in this case, city officials whose sight may be obscured by visions of gushing property tax revenue. Here are a couple of the horrible eyesores the city wants to bulldoze: