Difference between revisions of "Berman v. Parker"
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''Berman v. Parker'' is the leading U.S. Supreme Court decision that authorized the taking of private property for a public purpose (clearing blighted property) rather than a public use (such as constructing a government building). is readily distinguishable from the action at bar. 348 U.S. 26 (1954). | ''Berman v. Parker'' is the leading U.S. Supreme Court decision that authorized the taking of private property for a public purpose (clearing blighted property) rather than a public use (such as constructing a government building). is readily distinguishable from the action at bar. 348 U.S. 26 (1954). | ||
| − | In ''Berman'', the Court upheld a taking of a slum based on "[p]ublic safety, public health, morality, peace and quiet, law and order." Id. at 32. The Berman ruling relied on its observation that: | + | In ''Berman'', the Court upheld a taking of a slum based on "[p]ublic safety, public health, morality, peace and quiet, law and order." ''Id.'' at 32. The Berman ruling relied on its observation that: |
Miserable and disreputable housing conditions may do more than spread disease and crime and immorality. They may also suffocate the spirit by reducing the people who live there to the status of cattle. They may indeed make living an almost insufferable burden. They may also be an ugly sore, a blight on the community which robs it of charm, which makes it a place from which men turn. The misery of housing may despoil a community as an open sewer may ruin a river. | Miserable and disreputable housing conditions may do more than spread disease and crime and immorality. They may also suffocate the spirit by reducing the people who live there to the status of cattle. They may indeed make living an almost insufferable burden. They may also be an ugly sore, a blight on the community which robs it of charm, which makes it a place from which men turn. The misery of housing may despoil a community as an open sewer may ruin a river. | ||
Revision as of 00:05, December 20, 2006
Berman v. Parker is the leading U.S. Supreme Court decision that authorized the taking of private property for a public purpose (clearing blighted property) rather than a public use (such as constructing a government building). is readily distinguishable from the action at bar. 348 U.S. 26 (1954).
In Berman, the Court upheld a taking of a slum based on "[p]ublic safety, public health, morality, peace and quiet, law and order." Id. at 32. The Berman ruling relied on its observation that:
Miserable and disreputable housing conditions may do more than spread disease and crime and immorality. They may also suffocate the spirit by reducing the people who live there to the status of cattle. They may indeed make living an almost insufferable burden. They may also be an ugly sore, a blight on the community which robs it of charm, which makes it a place from which men turn. The misery of housing may despoil a community as an open sewer may ruin a river.
Id. at 32-33.
Subsequent decisions cited the Berman precedent by allowing the taking of private property by calling almost anything "blighted", even property that was nothing like a slum.