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Is the Trump Wall a Valid Use of Eminent Domain?
It’s possible to contest the government’s right to take, but it’s seldom a winner.
When I was an active judge, I heard a lot of eminent domain cases. I had never tried one when I was a practicing lawyer and eminent domain is a splendid example of a remark that knocks the socks off voters but is absolutely true: when evaluating a candidate for the bench, keep in mind that the judge does not have to know the law.
Lawyers know what I mean, but these remarks are not for lawyers. A judge needs to know a lot about procedure and about evidence, because those calls have to be made on the fly. There is more time for decisions about law.
A judge has to be reasonably smart and not lazy. Learning the law you don’t know coming into the case is something you accomplish in a good law library and it’s the job of the trial lawyers to suggest where you start digging in the moving target of our common law system. If a lawyer misdirects a judge in a brief, and the judge is diligent, there will be more harm to the lawyer’s reputation (read: ability to practice law in a cost-effective manner) than to the case in which the misleading brief was filed.
A PERSONAL PRIVILEGE DIGRESSION ON LAWYERS AND HONESTY. I am not saying there are no dishonest lawyers…
