Freedom Tip of the Day
The press has basically ignored this story since the whole ten-commandments-in-the-courthouse ruling happened to hit the same week, but I'll fill you in. (Sidenote: Good luck reading the ten commandments in your own house if the government is forcing you to sell your home to a private developer. Forget silly wall plaques for a minute and ponder that one.)
Here's the story: In New London, Connecticut, a pharmaceutical company planned a new facility that would likely bring some needed jobs to the town. In order to capitalize on possible economic growth, a private planning company started buying up land. Fifteen (give or take) individuals, fond of their properties, did not sell. The private developer initiated the help of the local government to forcibly take the property under "eminent domain" (the government can intervene and buy property from the less-than-willing in order to put it to public use, usually a hospital or highway or the redevelopment of a blighted neighborhood). They went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the 5-4 vote on June 23rd, 2005 gave the go-ahead to bulldoze the dissenting families' (non-blighted) houses. Here's the hitch: this is a private developer. The law specifically states that it is not permissible for one private entity to be forced to sell their property to another private entity. However, they presented the idea that their strip mall/office complex & marina would make more tax money than taxing the people who currently lived there. Ta-da! Public use. If A can make more money than B, A wins. Screw the fact that B has lived in her house for eighty years. A can raze it & replace it with a hot dog stand for the "public".
So the Supreme Court has basically said that any rich jerk who can make a buck off your grandma's house has permission to call in government help to force her to sell. Luckily, Kentucky is one of the few states that only allows the "eminent domain" argument if the area is blighted (beyond repair/hazardous). Here's my freedom-protection tip: never buy a home in a state where anyone with more money than you can help themselves to your house. Bonus tip: Don't count on Supreme Court Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg or Breyer to protect your rights unless you're a corporation. And if this ruling REALLY annoys you, check out www.freestarmedia.com for the greatest revenge tactic ever. I SO wish this was my idea.
Here's the story: In New London, Connecticut, a pharmaceutical company planned a new facility that would likely bring some needed jobs to the town. In order to capitalize on possible economic growth, a private planning company started buying up land. Fifteen (give or take) individuals, fond of their properties, did not sell. The private developer initiated the help of the local government to forcibly take the property under "eminent domain" (the government can intervene and buy property from the less-than-willing in order to put it to public use, usually a hospital or highway or the redevelopment of a blighted neighborhood). They went all the way to the Supreme Court, where the 5-4 vote on June 23rd, 2005 gave the go-ahead to bulldoze the dissenting families' (non-blighted) houses. Here's the hitch: this is a private developer. The law specifically states that it is not permissible for one private entity to be forced to sell their property to another private entity. However, they presented the idea that their strip mall/office complex & marina would make more tax money than taxing the people who currently lived there. Ta-da! Public use. If A can make more money than B, A wins. Screw the fact that B has lived in her house for eighty years. A can raze it & replace it with a hot dog stand for the "public".
So the Supreme Court has basically said that any rich jerk who can make a buck off your grandma's house has permission to call in government help to force her to sell. Luckily, Kentucky is one of the few states that only allows the "eminent domain" argument if the area is blighted (beyond repair/hazardous). Here's my freedom-protection tip: never buy a home in a state where anyone with more money than you can help themselves to your house. Bonus tip: Don't count on Supreme Court Justices Stevens, Kennedy, Souter, Ginsburg or Breyer to protect your rights unless you're a corporation. And if this ruling REALLY annoys you, check out www.freestarmedia.com for the greatest revenge tactic ever. I SO wish this was my idea.
Comments
Someone with some political knowledge fill me in; I read that the House voted to nullify the Supreme Court ruling...what happens to the Steal-Your-Grandma's-House rule now? Anybody know?
Oh, and Mabs, you're not a nerd...you're an aspiring lawyer that knows her stuff! You'll kick butt in the legal arena one day!