A win for property owners, setback for Kelo Developers.The Ohio Supreme Court delivered a unanimous and historic ruling on July 26 that is being heralded as a major victory for property rights and a stinging blow to last year's infamous in·fa·mous adj. 1. Having an exceedingly bad reputation; notorious. 2. Causing or deserving infamy; heinous: an infamous deed. 3. Law a. U.S. Supreme Court Kelo decision, which ruled that local governments can use eminent domain eminent domain, the right of a government to force the owner of private property sell it if it is needed for a public use. The right is based on the doctrine that a sovereign state has dominion over all lands and buildings within its borders, which has its origins in powers to condemn To adjudge or find guilty of a crime and sentence. To declare a building or ship unsafe for use or occupancy. To decide that a navigable vessel is a prize or is unfit for service. private property for commercial development. The most immediate beneficiaries of the Ohio ruling are Carl and Joy Gamble of Norwood, Ohio For other uses, see Norwood. Norwood is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States that is an enclave of the larger city of Cincinnati. The population was 21,675 at the 2000 census. Nicknames Norwood is nicknamed the "Gem of the Highlands". , who faced losing their home of 35 years. They and their neighbors in a tidy Norwood neighborhood were to be evicted by Norwood officials in favor of upon the side of; favorable to; for the advantage of. See also: favor a developer who had plans to replace their homes with a condominium-office-shopping complex; the court decision rejected Norwood's "right" to do so. "Our home is ours again!" exclaimed Joy Gamble, after learning of the ruling. "The Ohio Supreme Court finally made us Americans again" Carl Gamble added. "We haven't had the heart or the will to see our home of more than 35 years since the City and the developer forced us out and fenced it off, but I'm sure we'll be taking a ride back up there today. This is just terrific!" Dana Berliner Dana Berliner is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice a public interest law firm in Arlington, Virginia founded in 1991 by Chip Mellor and Clint Bolick. She was co-lead counsel for Susette Kelo in the landmark United States Supreme Court case Kelo v. , an attorney for the Institute for Justice that represented property owners in the case, said the Ohio court's decision will have a major impact in high courts and legislatures across the country. "This case is really part of a trend throughout the country of states responding to and rejecting the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision last year," she said. "There are now 28 states that have taken legislative steps to protect owners more after that decision, and this case is the next movement in that trend, and I believe now not only legislatures but other courts are going to begin rejecting that terrible decision." |
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