Overturning Poletown: County of Wayne v. Hathcock | Taking Poletown

For over 20 years, the Michigan Supreme Court ruling in Poletown Neighborhood Council v. Detroit, often referred to simply as Poletown, set the precedent for how and why eminent domain can be used. This was a controversial decision that was preceded by protests & holdouts, but eventually the Court’s decision allowed for the City of Detroit to use eminent domain to acquire land for General Motors to expand a car plant—land where a neighborhood existed. Part of what was at issue was what does “public use” mean? The Michigan Court found that the economic benefits that the plant promised to create sufficed as “public use,” regardless that the land was to be transferred to a private party, GM. But the story didn’t end there. In 2004, another eminent domain case, County of Wayne v. Hathcock, made its way to a new Michigan Supreme Court, and that court ended up overturning the precedent set in Poletown.

Today’s episode of the FedSoc Films Podcast features Robert P. Young, one of the Justice’s on the Michigan Court in 2004, to give key insights into why he was in favor of overturning Poletown.

This episode is inspired by our film Taking Poletown: A Community’s Fight Over Economic Justice & Eminent Domain, a short documentary that explores the battle that took place over 30 years ago between homeowners, government officials, and General Motors.

Watch the full film Taking Poletown: A Community’s Fight Over Economic Justice & Eminent Domain on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaoessbpIIc


As always, the Federalist Society takes no position on particular legal or public policy issues; all expressions of opinion are those of the speaker.

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