''Hawaii Housing Authority v. Midkiff'', 467 U.S. 229 (1984), was a case in which the

United States Supreme Court The Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) is the highest court in the federal judiciary of the United States. It has ultimate appellate jurisdiction over all U.S. federal court cases, and over state court cases that involve a point o ...

held that a state could use

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

to take land that was overwhelmingly concentrated in the hands of private landowners and redistribute it to the wider population of private residents.

Background

Only 22 landowners owned 72.5% of the

fee simple In English law, a fee simple or fee simple absolute is an estate in land, a form of freehold ownership. A "fee" is a vested, inheritable, present possessory interest in land. A "fee simple" is real property held without limit of time (i.e., perm ...

titles in the island of Oahu, and the

Hawaii State Legislature The Hawaii State Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Hawaii. The state legislature is a bicameral body consisting of a lower house, the Hawaii State House of Representatives, with 51 representatives, and an upper house, the ...

concluded that there was an

oligopoly An oligopoly (from Greek ὀλίγος, ''oligos'' "few" and πωλεῖν, ''polein'' "to sell") is a market structure in which a market or industry is dominated by a small number of large sellers or producers. Oligopolies often result from ...

in land ownership that was "skewing the State's residential fee simple market, inflating land prices, and injuring the public tranquility and welfare." However, the shortage of buildable land on Oahu was largely because roughly half of the island is government-owned and thus unavailable for privately owned housing. The Hawaii legislature enacted a condemnation scheme, which was intended to transfer titles to the lots from its owner, the Bishop Estate, to the home lessees. The case focused on the taking of land held by the Bishop Estate, a charitable trust that held the residual lands of the

Hawaiian monarchy The Hawaiian Kingdom, or Kingdom of Hawaiʻi (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Ko Hawaiʻi Pae ʻĀina''), was a sovereign state located in the Hawaiian Islands. The country was formed in 1795, when the warrior chief Kamehameha the Great, of the ...

, and used the proceeds to support the

Kamehameha schools Kamehameha Schools, formerly called Kamehameha Schools Bishop Estate (KSBE), is a private school system in Hawaii established by the Bernice Pauahi Bishop Estate, under the terms of the will of Princess Bernice Pauahi Bishop, who was a formal membe ...

, which provide an education to Hawaiian children. The Bishop Estate had subdivided some of its land on Oahu and leased individual lots to land lessees, who built homes on them and at first paid nominal rents to the estate. However, as Oahu land values rose, so did rents, and the tenants demanded the state acquire the Estate's title and reconvey the individual lots to the lessee-homeowners, who would have to pay fair market value to reimburse the state for the acquisition.

Decision

The Court's decision looked to '' Berman v. Parker'' (1954) in which eminent domain power had been used to redevelop slum areas and for the possible sale or lease of the condemned lands for private interest. The Court decided that the

United States Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washing ...

had the power to determine what was for the public good over the judiciary. The decision equated police power with the eminent domain of the sovereign's public use requirement. In an 8-0 decision, the Court voted that the Hawaiian act was constitutional. Hawaii's act to regulate the oligopoly was seen as a classic exercise of the State's police powers, and a comprehensive and rational approach to identifying and correcting market failure and satisfied the public use doctrine. Land did not have to be put into actual public use in order to use

. It is the taking's purpose, and not its mechanics that were important. Here, eminent domain was used to provide an overall market benefit to the wider populace. The decision suggested that a

judicial deference Judicial deference is the condition of a court yielding or submitting its judgment to that of another legitimate party, such as the executive branch in the case of national defense. It is most commonly found in countries, such as the United Kingdo ...

to the legislature was involved. If the legislature determines there are substantial reasons for the exercise of the taking power, courts must defer to the legislature's determination that the taking will serve a public use. The Court held that the takings to correct concentrated property ownership was a legitimate public purpose.

Limitations of the decision

The decision, though, placed limits on the power of the government, stating:

Aftermath

However, the aftermath of the ''Midkiff'' decision failed to achieve the stated purpose of the redistribution legislation. It could not create new housing because it transferred title from the land lessor only to the lessee-homeowners who already occupied existing homes on the subject property. As soon as the former lessees acquired fee simple titles to their homes, their homes became attractive to Japanese investors who paid high prices for those homes, largely in the upscale Kahala and

Hawaii Kai Maunalua (Hawaii Kai) is a largely residential area located in the Honolulu County, Hawaii, City & County of Honolulu, in the East Honolulu, Hawaii, East Honolulu CDP, on the island of Oahu, Oahu. Maunalua, (Hawaii Kai) is the largest of ...

neighborhoods. That led to a ripple effect throughout the island. Home prices on

Oahu Oahu () (Hawaiian language, Hawaiian: ''Oʻahu'' ()), also known as "The Gathering place#Island of Oʻahu as The Gathering Place, Gathering Place", is the third-largest of the Hawaiian Islands. It is home to roughly one million people—over t ...

, far from falling, as had been intended by the legislature, surged upward and more than doubled within six years. The primary holding of ''Midkiff'' was reaffirmed by ''

Kelo v. City of New London ''Kelo v. City of New London'', 545 U.S. 469 (2005), was a landmark decision by the Supreme Court of the United States in which the Court held, 5–4, that the use of eminent domain to transfer land from one private owner to another private own ...

'' (2005).

References

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