1st anneversary of the Kelo decision
Tommorow is the 1st anneversary of the U.S. Supreme Court's ruling on Kelo vs. New London. This was a case where the City of New London, Connecticut decided to seize land from a group of homeowners in order to make room for a new facility. The new facility was for the Pfizer corporation, so that they could open a research facility. Some of these residents had held land and/or homes in the area for over 100 years. Despite this, the city condemned their land and seized it. Below is an excerpt from the dissenting opinion in this case (written by Justice O'Connor):
Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power. Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded–i.e., given to an owner who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public–in the process. To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings “for public use” is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property–and thereby effectively to delete the words “for public use” from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Accordingly I respectfully dissent.
The most frightening sentence in this paragraph is the last one, that this decision effectively deletes the eminent domain clause from the 5th amendment.
Because of this, some states have decided to take action. In Kansas, a constitutional amendment was introduced in the legislature this year, HCR 5025. This amendment would put a question on the ballot in the November general election. It would be up to the people to ratify, and it would bar this type of abuse from ever happening in our state (which ranks as the 2nd worst abuser nationwide). The resolution failed by 3 votes.
Why is it that our lawmakers denied us the right to vote on a constitutional amendment? Do they really think only they know what's best?
Tommorrow, at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, KS, we will be holding a demonstration to remember this anneversary, and to promote a constitutional amendment to stop it. The demonstration begins at 11:00 and will conclude at 1:00.
Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power. Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded–i.e., given to an owner who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public–in the process. To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings “for public use” is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property–and thereby effectively to delete the words “for public use” from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Accordingly I respectfully dissent.
The most frightening sentence in this paragraph is the last one, that this decision effectively deletes the eminent domain clause from the 5th amendment.
Because of this, some states have decided to take action. In Kansas, a constitutional amendment was introduced in the legislature this year, HCR 5025. This amendment would put a question on the ballot in the November general election. It would be up to the people to ratify, and it would bar this type of abuse from ever happening in our state (which ranks as the 2nd worst abuser nationwide). The resolution failed by 3 votes.
Why is it that our lawmakers denied us the right to vote on a constitutional amendment? Do they really think only they know what's best?
Tommorrow, at the Johnson County Courthouse in Olathe, KS, we will be holding a demonstration to remember this anneversary, and to promote a constitutional amendment to stop it. The demonstration begins at 11:00 and will conclude at 1:00.
posted by Jason E. Peck at 9:01 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home