This morning while snuggling up on my sofa with the hubby and our Willa, sunlight and the faint hum of traffic on PIB and I-285 filtering through our window, a report on CNN struck an already sore nerve. “Kelo v. New London isn’t going anywhere.” stated John Bullock, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice.
As most people are aware under a process called eminent domain, the government can seize private property for public use. Traditionally, government’s authority to take land for public use has been used to eliminate slums or build highways, schools and other public works.
Popping up in the news more frequently these days are stories about the government seizing private land for private use under the guise it will serve what’s called “the public good”. What is this particular definition of “public good”? By using Emininent Domain as a redevelopment tool to transfer private property from one owner to another the government will realize a boost in tax revenue and local economy. Private developers interested in building shopping centers, malls, more expensive homes, offices…Wal-marts make out like bandits while home owners, business owners (even churches) are forced off their land for a price the government determines is fair and just. Such stories of cities condemning private property not due to a need for a public use, or to rid an area of urban blight, but simply due to the city’s interest in increasing revenue are becoming more commonplace.
Under eminent domain, the government buys your property, paying you what’s determined to be fair market value. But what about the people who don’t want to sell their homes at any price? Should they be forced to give up their land just to see it go to another private owner? Apparently, if the property is owned by working-class and middle-class people or small independent businesses located on prime real estate, the government’s answer is a resounding ‘yes’.
Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.
U.S. Constitution, Amendment V.
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