Sister Toldjah!
6/6/2006 - 10:56 am

Tom Blumer at the Bizzy Blog has been all over the stories of what has been happening in New London, CT since the much-criticized decision on the Kelo v. City of New London was handed down by the US Supreme Court last June.

George Will’s criticism last year of the decision is worth noting again:

Can government profit by seizing the property of people of modest means and giving it to wealthy people who can pay more taxes than can be extracted from the original owners? The court answered yes.

[...]

Those on the receiving end of the life-shattering power that the court has validated will almost always be individuals of modest means. So this liberal decision — it augments government power to aggrandize itself by bulldozing individuals’ interests — favors muscular economic battalions at the expense of society’s little platoons, such as homeowners and the neighborhoods they comprise.

Find out what’s been going on in New London - since the decision was handed down - via Tom’s blog.

Posted By: Sister Toldjah in: Law/Judiciary, US Supreme Court
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Comments

  1. truly this is one of the saddest moments we have had in seeing greed outweigh liberty.

    Comment by Karl @ 6/6/2006 - 11:15 am

  2. Truly the power to determine what is a public purpose belongs to the courts, and not to our elected representatives.

    Comment by andrew @ 6/6/2006 - 11:35 am

  3. Kelo has already been stretched to include taking private business property - like in the case of Hercules, Ca vs Walmart, being used to remove Walmart from their community, because it will obstruct their VIEW of the bay. Which if it goes through will give precedent for many other communities to use against Walmart or any other business they don not like in their community.

    Wrote about it Here.

    Mr. Peterson claims “eminent domain is used sparingly.” Yet the Institute for Justice, which represented the property owners in Kelo v. New London, found 10,000 cases in which condemnation was used or threatened for the benefit of private developers during a five-year period. The true number is probably much higher, as the study relied on newspaper articles and recorded cases, reflecting a fraction of such land grabs.

    In practice, that is all it takes to seize people’s homes and businesses: the unilateral judgment of politicians that society would be better served if the property were in different hands.

    Read the rest of it Here.

    Let’s not forget about the case in Cincinnati, Ohio either:

    Joy and Carl Gamble say they just want to retire peacefully in the dream home where they’ve lived for more than 35 years. But the Cincinnati suburb of Norwood has other plans for the property.

    Using its power of eminent domain, the city wants to take a neighborhood that it considers to be deteriorating and boost its fortunes by allowing a $125 million development of offices and shops.
    …….
    “It is our home, what’s ours is ours, and it should be that way,” Joy Norwood told a rally Wednesday morning before the hearing. “It was a home worth fighting home, and we do want it back.”
    …….
    The city and a private developer contend that Norwood had the right to acquire the property. They also argue that eminent domain applied not because the area is “blighted,” but because it is “deteriorating.”
    …….
    “When the municipalities and the people that have lots of money decide they want what you have, you don’t own it,” Gamble said. “You bought it, you paid for it, you kept the taxes up, you kept the appearance up, but it wasn’t yours.”

    More on it here:

    The city of Norwood is trying to use eminent domain to seize remaining properties for a developer who wants to build a $125 million project of offices, shops and restaurants.

    The city says the tax revenue will boost the its economic fortunes. Homeowners Carl and Joy Gamble say the city abused its authority to seize property by declaring the neighborhood **deteriorating**, a less severe condition than blighted. (Emphasis mine)
    ………..
    “Does it make any difference that it appears that the private developer was the one that started this ball rolling?” she said.

    Click here for full story.

    Comment by sanity @ 6/6/2006 - 12:06 pm

  4. Andrew,

    You have spoken truly as a person and a Democrat who doesn’t believe in Democracy or the Representative Republic we have, but in appointed for life judges who act like kings, not judges. You sir, do not deserve freedom.

    Comment by PCD @ 6/6/2006 - 1:28 pm

  5. Truly the power to determine what is a public purpose belongs to the courts, and not to our elected representatives.

    Andrew it was left up to the courts, the Supreme Court to be exact and 5 of 4 pulled their ruling from somewhere but it sure wasn’t from the 5th amendment of our Constitution. Let me put it up for you “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation”. Now since these liberal judges saw fit to trample the Constitution it is up to our legislators to pass specific laws to prevent eminent injustice.
    **==

    Comment by Jim M @ 6/6/2006 - 1:59 pm

  6. “You have spoken truly as a person and a Democrat who doesn’t believe in Democracy or the Representative Republic we have, but in appointed for life judges who act like kings, not judges.”

    The Kelo court handed over the decision to elected representatives. And everyone got mad. Looks teh world isn’t as simple as you imagine it to be.

    “Now since these liberal judges saw fit to trample the Constitution it is up to our legislators to pass specific laws to prevent eminent injustice.”

    The Court said its up to the elected representatives to decide, not the court.

    Comment by andrew @ 6/6/2006 - 2:49 pm

  7. So Andrew…. I take it from your contrarian position that you’d welcome the idea that something you worked half you life for can be just taken away arbitrarily, so some contracter can build a new mall. Is that what we hear you saying?

    - Bang **==

    Comment by Big Bang Hunter @ 6/6/2006 - 2:54 pm

  8. Andrew, the court DECIDED that property could be taken from one private owner and “given” to another private owner, overturning 2 centuries of precident on Eminent Domain by LIBERAL Justices and that dunce O’Connor.

    Comment by PCD @ 6/6/2006 - 3:51 pm

  9. Andrew, they did more then that, they validated the land grabbing practices. it used to be that only land for public use was fair game. This was to be given to a private developer for profit based development.

    They not only told the legislature to make it law, they gave them permission to make the law such that personal property is meaningless.

    Comment by Karl @ 6/6/2006 - 5:35 pm

  10. I suspect that Kelo v. City of New London will become the new Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) Act - a way for government to do what it wants without having to follow the Constitution.
    People are protesting against abortion? RICO them!

    Want a gun to protect yourself? Better get a good lawyer instead!

    Comment by Mwalimu Daudi @ 6/6/2006 - 10:33 pm

  11. I think New London should be ashamed. They are typical politicians and do not care about peoples feelings. They are only in office to see what they can get. We went through a state buy out. The only way you get treated fairly is to have a high price attorney. Even then you still get treated very poorly and they try to cheat you every chance they get. Every one should boycott New London and the new hotel or try to get someone in office that has a heart. If they say she owes them back rent I would think that they owe her interest on the money they would have paid her for the home.

    Comment by Chris @ 6/23/2006 - 8:45 pm

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