In 2005, the US Supreme Court took on the most important property rights case in the history of our country. The Kelo case pitted homeowners in New London, CT against city officials who wanted to use the power of eminent domain to redevelop the area in the hope of creating jobs and increasing tax revenues. The homeowners resisted, arguing that eminent domain power should only be used for public projects like roads and schools. Ultimately, however, the Court upheld the city's right to turn over the homeowners' property to private land developers.
Since that ruling, the use of eminent domain to transfer property from one private owner to another private owner has increased dramatically. The controversial Kelo v. New London decision sparked a nation-wide debate about the importance of property rights that continues today.
Eminent Domain tells the real-life stories of three Americans fighting to prevent their property from being taken in the name of redevelopment.
Eminent Domain covers numerous educational standards across several subject areas including Language Arts, Media/Technology, and Social Studies for Grades 4-12. To find which standards it covers specific to your grade, subject area, and which standards your district is using, use our Standards Alignment tool.
Eminent Domain is done very well using a teen narrator. The examples and focus on recent Supreme Court case is excellent and relative to students. The line of thought provoking questions encourages discussion, debate, and further research. Students depart with a wider understanding of constitutional dilemmas and powers of local boards.
Craig Dean Social Studies - 11,12 Corry Area Senior High School, Corry, PA
This was a great video....short and to the point with great stories that my students could relate to. It took what I once thought was a difficult topic to teach and made it completely understandable for my high school students. Thank you!
Jennifer Mileski History - 11 Unatego Junior And Senior High School, Otego, NY
My students connected with the real people in the video. Before the video, they didn't understand how property could be taken away from it's owner. After the video, we had such an interesting discussion! They really learned a lot from the video. It was awesome in that it assisted me in teaching this confusing topic. Thank you.
Rhonda Southerland Goverment/Civics - 12 Fort White High School, Fort White, FL
This is a fabulous video It presents a fantastic opportunity to illustrate the fifth amendment and how it is not necessarily being applied the way our founding fathers had intended. It lead to a great conversation and the follow up info provided by izzit added greatly to the presentation. Thanks you for a fantastic film.
Michael Eklund Social Studies - 8 Kenilworth Junior High School, Petaluma, CA
