On February 28^th, 2012, Representative Scott DesJarlais (TN-04) voted in favor of H.R. 1433, the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2012, introduced by Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner (WI-05). This legislation preserves the constitutional protections for private property jeopardized by the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Specifically, H.R. 1433 prevents states from receiving any federal economic development funding for two fiscal years if they use eminent domain to seize property for economic development purposes. It also prohibits federal agencies from engaging in the same practices.

“It is critical that we overturn the misguided Kelo decision and restore the basic protections provided by the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution,” said Representative DesJarlais. “This bipartisan legislation will help to prevent the government from seizing Americans’ private property solely for economic development purposes. I was proud to join my Republican and Democrat colleagues in voting to pass this legislation and I hope that the Senate will act swiftly on this bill.”

H.R. 1433 is the third official act in response to the Kelo decision taken by the House of Representatives since the Supreme Court decided the case. In 2005, the House passed both a resolution of disapproval of the decision (H.Res. 340) and H.R. 4128, a bill similar to H.R. 1433.