Question

Which of the following is true of a successful eminent domain proceeding?

a) Property owners are not compensated for their property.
b) The government seizes private property without any compensation.
c) Property owners are compensated at fair market value for their property.
d) Eminent domain cannot be used to acquire private property.

Answer 1

A successful eminent domain proceeding requires property owners to be compensated at fair market value for their property.

Step-by-step explanation:

Under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution, a successful eminent domain proceeding requires property owners to be compensated at fair market value for their property. The government cannot seize private property without any compensation or refuse to pay property owners.

Eminent domain is the power of the government to take private property for public use, with the presumption that the property is to serve 'the public good.' This means that the property should provide an essential benefit to the entire community.

For example, in the case of Kelo v. City of New London, where homes were taken for a large pharmaceutical company's corporate campus, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of the municipal officials taking the homes, but the campus was never built on the seized land. This case led to a public backlash against the use of eminent domain and changes in the law to restrict taking property for economic redevelopment purposes.