The legal seizure of private property by government authorities for public use. In Eminent Domain, governments are required to offer property holders due process and fair market compensation for land being seized, this is done through condemnation proceeding. |
The Interstate Highway System is one of the most famous examples of extensive condemnation proceeding. A network of freeways which began construction during the 1950s, the government, through the use of eminent domain, purchased over 42,000 miles of private and semi-private property needed for construction.