Eminent Domain: "Cold Dead Hands" time.

All across the country, state and local governments are abusing the power of eminent domain to take private homes and businesses for the benefit of other, more politically favored private businesses who promise more jobs and taxes. In just five years, the government filed or threatened condemnation of more than 10,000 properties for private parties.

In the face of such statistics, the Institute for Justice, a Washington, D.C., public interest law firm, has waged a national campaign in court and in the court of public opinion to restrain government’s abuse of eminent domain and to restore constitutional protection for private property.

According to the Connecticut Supreme Court, the single fact that your City is strapped for cash justifies condemning your home. After all, richer people could be living there and paying more taxes. Office buildings could be built there, employ more people than you employ at your house, and pay more taxes. Taking your home is for the good of the city—it’s “economic development.”

Using eminent domain for “economic development” alone is a new phenomenon. Usually governments try to at least claim that the area is a “slum” or “blighted,” but Connecticut has dispensed with that pretense and admits outright that if another business could make a profit on your land, the government can take it. The U.S. Constitution specifically prohibits this kind of taking, limiting the power of eminent domain to “public use.” The Connecticut Supreme Court decided that “public use” just means that it could have some benefit to the public, like more tax money in City coffers.

The Connecticut Supreme Court’s reasoning effectively reads the Constitution’s protections out of existence. Whose land wouldn’t produce more taxes if it were an office building instead of a home? Allowing condemnation for “economic development” just allows cities and developers to pick whatever land they want, without regard to the people who live or work there.

The Supreme Court needs to address this radical departure from the language of the Constitution. Its last case involving private development was 50 years ago, and it allowed the clearance of an area so blighted that most buildings lacked plumbing. For the last 50 years, without further guidance, it’s been up to states to set their own rules. Not surprisingly, the states have reached conflicting conclusions. Some states, like Connecticut, allow condemnations for “economic development.” Other states, like Washington, South Carolina and Maine, do not. The Constitution is supposed to apply to all United States citizens, and U.S. Supreme Court guidance is desperately needed to prevent the continuing and growing abuse of eminent domain.

I heard this story on NPR on the way in to work this morning. I can understand the reasoning behind eminent domain. The government needs to land so for "public use". It is in the U.S. Constitution, Amendment 5. The crux of the matter is the definition of "public use". Roadways, schools, and infrastructure are what I consider "public" items that the goverment controls. Condos, apartments, and most businesses are private ventures. The government should not and can not be allowed to take away your private property to give to another private person/venture, especially for greed. I hope the U.S. Supreme Court takes this case, because leaving it up to the state gets you bought out by Pfizer!