The Kelo decision held that the city of New London, Connecticut, could, with just compensation, seize the home of Susette Kelo and turn the land over to a private developer because urban renewal, the rejuvenation of downtown, was a legitimate “public use.” This appears to be directly in support of some of the key purposes of zoning and planning, i.e. to establish economic development areas for job growth and to promote the expansion or stabilization of the current economic base and the creation of a range of employment opportunities.
1. If judges defer to the economic decision of the elected representatives of the people, how are the people assured of the appropriateness and Constitutionality of those economic decisions?