Commentary: Eminent Domain is a Slippery Slope

In a piece for Fast Company, Andy Boenau makes the case against eminent domain, writing, “If you shrug at a government having the power to take stuff just because, then all your other rights and protections are up for grabs.”

Boenau describes the history of eminent domain in the United States, beginning with a Supreme Court decision in the early 19th century that allowed for government taking of property “for public use and with just compensation.” Other decisions reinforced and expanded on this idea, allowing eminent domain of private property in a variety of cases, including ones that transferred property to other private, corporate hands. 

For Boenau, “taking property by force—is a power move.” Far from being a right-wing issue, property rights, Boenau asserts, should be everyone’s concern. “My most left-wing friend should be a staunch property rights advocate to hold big corporate power at bay.”