Poletown Neighborhood Council v. City of Detroit
Michigan Supreme Court
304 N.W.2d 455 (1981)
- Written by Haley Gintis, JD
Facts
In response to poor economic conditions, increased unemployment, and slow industrial development, the Detroit Economic Development Corporation (corporation) proposed to obtain land by condemnation and convey it to General Motors Corporation (GM) to build an assembly plant. The Poletown Neighborhood Council (council) (plaintiff) and other residents who lived on the land brought a suit against the City of Detroit (city) (defendant). The council argued that the city’s eminent-domain authority did not allow it to convey condemned land to a private actor because such conduct constituted a taking for private use. The council based its argument on the premise that GM would receive the primary benefit of the condemnation and the benefit to the public would be incidental. In response to the council’s argument, the city argued that the condemnation was for the predominant public purpose of providing the city with an economic boost and employment opportunities. The lower court returned a verdict for the city. The matter was appealed to the Michigan Supreme Court.
Rule of Law
Issue
Holding and Reasoning (Per curiam)
What to do next…
Here's why 805,000 law students have relied on our case briefs:
- Written by law professors and practitioners, not other law students. 46,300 briefs, keyed to 988 casebooks. Top-notch customer support.
- The right amount of information, includes the facts, issues, rule of law, holding and reasoning, and any concurrences and dissents.
- Access in your classes, works on your mobile and tablet. Massive library of related video lessons and high quality multiple-choice questions.
- Easy to use, uniform format for every case brief. Written in plain English, not in legalese. Our briefs summarize and simplify; they don’t just repeat the court’s language.
