fort trumble and the city of new london began planning a mass i redevelopment of the area surrounding the plant. the city handed its power of eminent domain to a private corporation to take the entire neighborhood for economic development purposes. suzette and several of her neighbors, some of whose families had lived in their homes for generations, challenged the city's use of eminent domain all the way to the u.s. supreme court in a desperate attempt to save their homes and their mostly blue collar neighborhood. however, the supreme court in one of the most controversial rulings in its history, held that private economic development constitutes a public use under the fifth amendment to the united states constitution. under the court's reasoning, the government can now use the eminent domain power to take the property of any individual for nearly any reason. as the dissenting justices observed, by defining public use so expansively, the result of the decision is, quote, effectively to delete the words for public use from the takings clause of the fifth amendment. the specter of condemnation hangs over all property. nothing is to prevent the state from replacing