On this episode: Berman v. Parker, the Supreme Court’s decision in 1954 to abandon previous constitutional limits on the government’s power to take property from Person A to give it to Person B. The decision greenlit the era of urban renewal, which saw over a thousand cities across the country seize and bulldoze entire neighborhoods en masse.
Click here for episode transcript.
Guests
Amy Lavine
Resources
Amy Lavine, Urban Renewal and the Story of Berman v. Parker
Wendell Pritchett, The “Public Menace” of Blight: Urban Renewal and the Private Uses of Eminent Domain
Jim Ely, Can the “Despotic Power” be Tamed? Reconsidering the Public Use Limitation on Eminent Domain
Ilya Somin, The Case for Expanding the Anticanon of Constitutional Law
Recent Episodes
Neat Takings Tricks | Season 3, Ep. 13
The Fifth Amendment says that the government must pay just compensation when it takes private property for public use, a command that, regrettably, is often […]
Listen NowTrust But Verify | Season 3, Ep. 12
In 1973, federal narcotics agents raided a pair of homes in Collinsville, Illinois by mistake. They didn’t find any drugs, but they did terrorize two […]
Listen NowEverything You Eat, Drink, and Wear | Season 3, Ep. 11
Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home (absent consent or an emergency). That rule goes back to the Founding. But in […]
Listen NowSpecial Weapons and Tactics | Season 3, Ep. 10
In 2020, a police SWAT team blew up Vicki Baker’s house after a fugitive barricaded himself inside. On this episode, we ask: who pays the […]
Listen Now