Posted on 01/23/2006 5:04:34 AM PST by Man50D
Angered by a Supreme Court ruling that gave local governments more power to seize people's homes for economic development, a group of activists is trying to get one of the court's justices evicted from his own home.
The group, led by a California man, wants Justice David Souter's home seized to build an inn called the "Lost Liberty Hotel."
They submitted enough petition signatures only 25 were needed to bring the matter before voters in March. This weekend, they're descending on Souter's hometown, the central New Hampshire town of Weare, population 8,500, to rally for support.
"This is in the tradition of the Boston Tea Party and the Pine Tree Riot," Organizer Logan Darrow Clements said, referring to the riot that took place during the winter of 1771-1772, when colonists in Weare beat up officials appointed by King George III who fined them for logging white pines without approval.
"All we're trying to do is put an end to eminent domain abuse," Clements said, by having those who advocate or facilitate it "live under it, so they understand why it needs to end."
Bill Quigley, Weare deputy police chief, said if protesters show up, they're going to be told to stay across the street from a dirt road that leads to Souter's brown farmhouse, which is more than 200 years old. It isn't known whether Souter will be home.
"They're obviously not going to be allowed on Justice Souter's property," he said. "There's no reason for anybody to go down that road unless they live on that road, and we know the residents that live there. The last time (Clements) showed up, they had a total of about three or four people who showed up to listen to him."
Clements, of Los Angeles, said he's never tried to contact Souter, who voted for the decision.
"The justice doesn't have any comment about it," Kathy Arberg, a Supreme Court spokeswoman, said about the protesters' cause.
The petition asks whether the town should take Souter's land for development as an inn; whether to set up a trust fund to accept donations for legal expenses; and whether to set up a second trust fund to accept donations to compensate Souter for taking his land.
Thanks for the update
Good on these folks
They are true patriots
Maybe a website should be set up to take reservations for this new hotel. This hotel probably would be booked up for a few years. I'll book a weekend!
Where are the civil liberty organizations that protested vehemently to make sure Cindy Sheehan had a right to sit on a road that led only to a few houses?
"Where are the civil liberty organizations that protested vehemently to make sure Cindy Sheehan had a right to sit on a road that led only to a few houses?"
Excellent point. If the ACLU were anything other than a communist front, they'd be in on this one.
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