Also known as: eminent domain
Written by attorneys · grounded in primary & secondary sources — see below
Condemnation of an estate burdened by a servitude modifies or terminates the servitude to the extent the taking permits a use inconsistent with continuance of the servitude.
Select any source to read its text and confirm it supports the definition.
Dustin Donovan owns Whiteacre subject to a view easement benefiting Deborah Dunn's Blackacre. The city condemns a strip of Whiteacre to build a highway that blocks the view. The taking permits a use inconsistent with the easement, so the servitude terminates to that extent.
Massachusetts sues the EPA over greenhouse gas emissions that threaten coastal property within its borders. The state asserts an independent interest in preserving the earth and air throughout its domain even though it owns little of the affected land directly.
The Nuclear Regulatory Commission adopts rules for nuclear plant licensing. A reviewing court refuses to dictate additional procedures beyond those the agency chose, recognizing that such choices fall within the domain Congress reserved exclusively for the administrative agency.
Penn Central owns Grand Central Terminal. New York City's landmark law prevents construction of an office tower above the station. The owners claim the restriction amounts to a taking requiring exercise of eminent domain and compensation.
The City of New London condemns homes in a distressed neighborhood to assemble land for a private developer promising new jobs and tax revenue. The owners challenge the taking as lacking a valid public use under the eminent domain power.
BMW is ordered to pay punitive damages in an Alabama case for failing to disclose that a car had been repainted. The Court reviews the award because states traditionally hold primary domain over remedies for common-law torts.
No. The servitude terminates only to the extent the taking permits a use inconsistent with its continuance.
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A state may assert a quasi-sovereign interest in the earth and air within its domain to protect its territory even when it holds little title.
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No. A reviewing court may not dictate methods or procedures that Congress has assigned exclusively to the agency.
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…"Great concepts like . . . liberty' . . . were purposely left to gather meaning from experience. For they relate to the whole domain of social and economic fact, and the statesmen who founded this Nation knew too well that only a stagnant society remains unchanged." National Mutual Ins. Co. v. Tidewater Transfer Co. ,…