Eminent Domain Politicized

The New York Times is reporting today on the political fallout in Connecticut from the Supreme Court’s eminent domain decision in the Kelo case. What’s really interesting is the about face of Nutmeg Democrats who have routinely worked to defeat any change in the law.

More interestingly still is the rethinking done by Richard Blumenthal the state’s astute attorney general. After initially praising the court’s decision as “vindicating long-established eminent domain principles,” he reversed himself one day later saying that Connecticut’s eminent domain law deserved “serious, critical scrutinizing.”

Once a certain momentum gets going in New York, we can see similar rethinking here as well. It is likely that the Columbia and Willets Point cases will jump start the political debate and will help inject the issue into next year’s gubernatorial and attorney general races.