Eminent domain is the act of the federal, state, or local government taking private property to convert into public use. According to the Fifth Amendment, all three governments may use eminent domain only if the property owners receive “just compensation”. Since this idea was established in 1875, the government’s understanding of “just compensation” is extremely subjective and has been unjust in thousands of scenarios since then. This compensation does not have any citizen input and is based on the government’s decision (after looking at background information). Moreover, in Kelo v. City of New London, Connecticut, 545 U.S. 469 (2005), the Supreme Court established that eminent domain is considered to be for public use if it simply benefits the community while furthering economic development. The parameters established for eminent domain are vague, amorphous, and illogical. Based on the limits currently created for eminent domain, innocent citizens can easily be taken advantage of for the state and federal governments’ benefit. 

Specifically, in Joliet IL, eminent domain was used to cease a housing complex which housed 750 individuals just to redevelop the city. By doing this, the government may leave hundreds of low-income residents with nowhere to live. In this scenario, the local government took a citizen’s property (and hundreds of citizens’ homes) based on subjective rules that make this unjust action legal. According to the local government, a “just compensation” was given and this was done for public use when in reality, it was not. Yet, eminent domain cases similar to this occur often throughout the local, state, and federal government and must be stopped. Therefore, by signing this petition, we can encourage stricter laws on eminent domain which encourage the citizen’s input.