BERMAN v. PARKER

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Case Basics
Docket No. 
22
Appellant 
Berman
Appellee 
Parker
Decided By 
Warren Court (1954-1955)
Opinion 
348 U.S. 26 (1954)
Argued 
Tuesday, October 19, 1954
Decided 
Monday, November 22, 1954
Advocates
James C. Toomey
(argued the cause for the appellants)
Joseph H. Schneider
(argued the cause for the appellants)
Simon Sobeloff
(Solicitor General, Department of Justice, argued the cause for the appellees)
Tags
Term:
Location: A department store
Facts of the Case 

In 1945, Congress passed the District of Columbia Redevelopment Act, creating the District of Columbia Redevelopment Land Agency, whose purpose would be to identify and redevelop blighted areas of Washington, D.C. Congress gave the new agency the power of eminent domain – the ability to seize private property with just compensation. Berman and the other appellants owned a department store in one blighted area targeted by the commission and objected to the seizing of their property solely for beautification of the area. The landowners brought a civil suit in federal district court challenging the constitutionality of the Act. Their case was dismissed. They then appealed directly to the U.S. Supreme Court.

Question 

Did the seizing of Berman and the other appellants' property for the purpose of beautification and redevelopment of the community violate the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment?

Conclusion 
Decision: 8 votes for Parker, 0 vote(s) against
Legal provision: Takings Clause

No. In a unanimous opinion authored by Justice William O. Douglas, the Court found that the Fifth Amendment does not limit Congress' power to seize private property with just compensation to any specific purpose. The Court concluded that the power to determine what values to consider in seizing property for public welfare is Congress' alone. "If those who govern the District of Columbia decide that the Nation's Capital should be beautiful as well as sanitary, there is nothing in the Fifth Amendment that stands in the way."

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BERMAN v. PARKER. The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law. 18 May 2013. <http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1954/1954_22>.
BERMAN v. PARKER, The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1954/1954_22 (last visited May 18, 2013).
"BERMAN v. PARKER," The Oyez Project at IIT Chicago-Kent College of Law, accessed May 18, 2013, http://www.oyez.org/cases/1950-1959/1954/1954_22.