May 2, 2006
On April 18th, the American Constitutional Society and the Construction & Real Estate Law Association hosted a panel presentation to encourage and enable law students to explore the construction and real estate industries. The panel was titled Property & Public Rights: Colorado’s Response to Kelo v. City of New London.
In Kelo v. City of New London (2005) the U.S. Supreme Court ruled (5-4) that local governments may force property owners to sell out and make way for private economic development when officials decide it would benefit the public, even if the property is not blighted and the new project’s success is not guaranteed. Panelists were invited to speak about Kelo case and its possible implications for Colorado. The Panelists included: Leslie Fields, of Faegre & Benson., who has been on both sides of some of the most important eminent domain battles in Colorado in recent years, and is currently representing Telluride in a major eminent domain case; Eugene L. Hohensee, of Arnold & Porter, who has been active with the Denver Urban Renewal Authority and has represented the Colorado Municipal League in opposing some of the current legislative initiatives, is currently on the Board of Directors of the Downtown Denver Partnership; and Malcolm Murray, of Murray Dahl Kuechenmeister & Renaud, who is a prominent advocate on eminent domain issues and represents a number of local governments in Colorado on this topic.
