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thenewgreen · 4814 days ago · link · · parent · post: TIL a Kelo v. New London judge regrets his decision
I don't know the details of this case but eminent domain is an often abused law. When I was a boy, I recall my parents fighting tooth and nail to help an elderly women named Betty keep her home. She must have been in her 80's. She lived in a farmhouse that was one of the oldest homes in our entire town. The house was near our high school. The school decided that they needed the land to build a new entrance to the school. After a couple year battle, the school board won a lawsuit and she was forced out of her home. I remember helping her pack her things and move. It was horrible. She and her husband (who had died a few years prior) had raised several children there. They kicked her out so that they could have 2 entrances, instead of one. It was seriously evil stuff.
My understanding is that the law eminent domain came in to existence during the railroad expansion west. They had to seize land that was in the natural pathway of the rails. -This makes a LOT more sense than the case I'm citing. As for the article, although it is horrible that she had to leave her home but at least she received some peace via the apology. To the best of my knowledge.... Betty never had any such gesture before she died.