OLR Report 2013-R-0211 summarizes of Berman v. Parker, 348 U.S. 26 (1954).
In Berman v. Parker, the U.S. Supreme Court considered the federal government's eminent domain power under the Fifth Amendment's takings clause. The case involved Washington, D.C. legislation to redevelop a blighted section of the city. A property owner objected to the government's taking of a piece of property that was not blighted and would be given to another private party as part of the redevelopment project.
The Court ruled that the government can transfer property from one private party to another as part of a redevelopment plan that serves a public purpose (i.e., to promote the general physical, aesthetic, sanitary, or economic quality of an area) under the Fifth Amendment and the constitution only requires payment of just compensation to a property owner.
For more information, read the full report.
