As has been expected for some time, the federal government has filed an action to condemn 276 acres of property in order to build a memorial to those killed on Flight 93 on September 11, 2001.

As I have explained in previous posts (see here and here), I believe that this condemnation is constitutional even under a relatively restrictive interpretation of the Public Use Clause of the Fifth Amendment. After all, the land will be owned and used by the federal government for a public memorial. At the same time, as discussed here, I remain skeptical that the government really needs to condemn such a large area (the memorial site will encompass a total of 2200 acres). It seems to me that an appropriate memorial to the heroes of Flight 93 can be built on a significantly smaller area, and with much less infringement on property rights.