Pfizer (PFE) will close its New London, Conn., site and consolidate operations there at the nearby Groton, Conn., site in a swathe of R&D closures as the company seeks 19,500 job cuts in the wake of its merger with Wyeth.
Pfizer’s abandonment of its plans for New London render moot the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision on eminent domain in Kelo v. New London. In the case, the city of New London had sought “eminent domain” power to seize the houses of several people living in a run-down neighborhood. The land was to be transformed into Pfizer’s new facility. The city argued it needed to bulldoze blighted areas in order to redevelop them. Susette Kelo argued the government should not have the right to take her home.
The Supreme Court ruled that as long as the government’s reason for taking the land bore a "rational relation" to a legitimate purpose, then forced takings (followed by just compensation) were constitutional. Many states changed their laws to prevent such takings in the future.
The lot where Susette Kelo's house once stood is now an abandoned wasteland.
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