State of Connecticut Proposes Moratorium on Power of Eminent Domain
Earlier this year, State Representative Robert Ward proposed legislation “to prohibit the acquisition of small owner-occupied residential dwellings by eminent domain for use in a municipal development project that will be privately owned or controlled.” A copy of proposed Connecticut legislation can be found here. It was defeated in the Connecticut General Assembly on June 28, 2005.
Shortly after the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London was decided, the State of Connecticut (the State where Kelo originated) proposed a moratorium on the use of eminent domain, declaring that no municipality — including New London — should be permitted to exercise the power of eminent domain until the legislature revised the law to protect the rights of private homeowners.
State based reaction to Kelo may have been the result of the Court’s pronouncement that nothing in the decision was meant to preclude a State from placing more stringent controls on the exercise of eminent domain.