The author's tone is informative because it gives a complete background on the Kelo v. New London case starting with how it started and ending with how eminent domain has changed over the years. The tone of the author is also hostile because they are in favor of Kelo and make comments through out the article such as, " Allowing condemnation for "economic development" just allows cities and developers to pick whatever land they want, without regard to the people who live or work there" or "This ruling is an invitation to disaster because every business generates more taxes than a home and every big business generates more taxes than a small one." The Institute for Justice claims that state and local governments are abusing the power of eminent domain all over the country by taking private homes and businesses for developers who promise more jobs and taxes. The Connecticut Supreme Court ruled that "public use" translated to benefiting the economy. The city council of New London allowed the New London Development Corporation, a private organization, to begin to craft their existing development plan for the neighborhood of Fort Trumbull in New London, Connecticut. The Institute of Justice filed a lawsuit against the city of New London in Superior Court on behalf of seven of the property owners who refused to move. The Superior Court ruled in favor of four out of the seven home owners, but the Supreme Court ruled against the home owners two years later. Their reasoning was that as long as the city felt it was in a “financial hardship” and that a private development would benefit them in ways of jobs and taxes, then this use of eminent domain for justifiable. I believe this article is very useful because it does provide a good background on Susette Kelo and the Kelo v. New London case. It also supports my side of the argument. I wil use it to demonstrate how eminent domain is being abused.It will help my readers get a better understanding of the abuse issue of eminent domain. It will also show how it can happen easily happen to me, you, or your fellow neighbor.
