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Paper instructions:

Eminent Domain

Is a new business such as a strip mall or a pharmaceutical company that will employ young professionals and increase a town’s tax revenues sufficiently public to justify moving old people out of a home that has been in the family for generations? How about a casino for an Indian tribe that forces farmers to give up their land?

Then consider this hypothetical situation:

Your town has been struggling to keep pace with increasing demands for revenue for police, fire, schools, and other essential infrastructure and services. Much of its manufacturing capacity has been outsourced overseas to cheaper labor markets in China and India, resulting in high local unemployment. For that reason, many of the town’s young people have decided not to return after college, leading to a downward economic spiral.

A local Indian tribe has resided for years on a small reservation outside of town. Recently the laws in your state have changed to permit full Las Vegas-style gambling but only on Indian land.

You are a town council-person asked to argue your position on a bill that would take a large swath of private land owned by farmers and give it to the tribe. Compensation would be paid to the farmers as constitutionally required, but many farmers do not want to leave the land which has been in their families for generations.

Assignment

Write a 3–4 page double-spaced position-paper in which you

State whether you believe the town should exercise eminent domain, and
Support your belief with economic, social, historical, and ethical arguments, including using the readings and internet research on eminent domain.
Submit your position paper to the Dropbox by the end of Unit 7.