Eminent Domain? Iowans Sue to Stop Dakota Access PIpeline, Say It Provides No Public Service

[Donkees]

Published on Sep 7, 2016
http://democracynow.org - The Dakota Access pipeline is also facing legal resistance in Iowa, one of four states through which it passes. We go to Des Moines to speak with Bill Hanigan, an attorney representing 15 Iowa landowners who are contesting the project’s use of eminent domain under the guise that it would provide a public service, even as it threatens to pollute the state’s farmland and water supplies.

[tymorial]

1. Sadly, they will lose due to settled law.

It all goes back to Kelo vs New London where SCOTUS ruled that the government can seize property under eminent domain with the justification that taxes provide public benefit. The pipeline will create jobs which in turn will create income tax.

That decision was an abomination in my opinion and sadly it came from the left wing of the court. It was also Sandra Day O'Connor's last case. I may not have always agreed with her but on this her dissent was excellent.