More on last week’s decision in Columbia eminent domain case

Last week the New York Court of Appeals issued its decision in Kaur v. New York State Urban Development Corp., No. 125 (June 24, 2010) (see our post here). In it’s decision, NY’s highest court reversed the New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division (First Department) decision issued December 3, 2009 which had struck down the attempted taking by eminent domain finding that the taking was unconstitutional as the project would not have a true public purpose but rather an entirely private benefit to Columbia University. The Dec. 3rd appellate opinion stated: “In this case, the record overwhelmingly establishes that the true beneficiary of the scheme to redevelop Manhattanville is not the community that is supposedly blighted, but rather Columbia University, a private elite education institution. These remarkably astonishing conflicts with Kelo on virtually every level cannot be ignored, and render the taking in this case unconstitutional.”

The NY Court of Appeals ruling June 24 was, in essence, a “rubber stamp” on the use of eminent domain in New York state. As Damon Root wrote in his Reason post: “So not only did New York’s highest court abdicate its core responsibility to review government actions that infringe on individual rights, it also disobeyed the Supreme Court. Let’s hope Justice Kennedy and his colleagues take notice and eventually rectify this gross miscarriage of justice.” (Excerpted from “Judicial review of eminent domain in New York is fundamentally broken” by Damon W. Root @ Reason blog.)

See also the following blogs for additional commentary and analysis on last week’s Columbia decision.

• New York Still Has “Unfrozen Caveman Judges” Who Are “Frightened And Confused” By Eminent Domain Blight (Robert Thomas @ InverseCondemnation blog)
• Court of Appeals, citing precedent in Atlantic Yards case, overturns lower court ruling blocking eminent domain for Columbia expansion (Norman Oder @ Atlantic Yards Report)
• NY High Court Permits Taking for Columbia University Expansion (Anthony Della Pelle @ New Jersey Condemnation Law blog)
• Universities and Eminent Domain (Ilya Somin @ The Volokh Conspiracy)
• New York Court of Appeals Backs Eminent Domain Use in Columbia Expansion (Clifford M. Marks @ WSJ Law blog)
• New York’s Eminent Domain “Blight” Grows (Jonathon Tobin @ Commentary blog)
• Friday’s Columbia “Blight” Case (Kaur) Links (Robert Thomas includes links to blog commentary and news articles @ InverseCondemnation blog)

Some links to recent news coverage:

• Court Ruling Upholds Columbia Campus Expansion (Charles V. Bagli @ The NY Times)
• State’s Use of Eminent Domain for Columbia Project Affirmed (Joel Stashenko @ The New York Law Journal)
• Individual Property Rights Lose Again In New York (John Wallace @ Liberty News)