eminent domain

Will Baltimore's Black Communities Ever See Justice for the "Highway to Nowhere"?

The Robert Moses-designed expressway displaced Black families and neighborhoods for a stub of a freeway that ultimately stretched for less than two miles and does not connect to the rest of the interstate system. 

A Community of Necessity: The Quabbin Reservoir's History and the Future of "Managed Retreat"

by Elisabeth C. Rosenberg

In 1939 the dammed Swift River submerged four Massachusetts towns beneath the new Quabbin Reservoir. The story of the residents, politicians and engineers of the Swift Valley foreshadows the negotiations that will accompany a managed retreat from places jeopardized by climate change.

Powerline Politics in the 1970s and Today

by Tyler Priest

Environmental activists have forged anti-pipeline alliances with rural landowners using the issue of eminent domain. History shows that this might boomerang if farmers oppose the new electric transmission lines that will be needed to implement green electrification. 

Should the Government Be Able to Take Your House Away and Give It to a Private Developer?

by Ilya Somin

10 years ago the Supreme Court said Yes. Here’s why so many people found the decision shocking.