Posted on 11/25/2007 6:31:07 PM PST by joanie-f
How many times have we heard about government abuses of the right to own property going on in neighborhoods across America, in the form of the invoking of the right of ‘eminent domain’, and the corruption of other legal concepts? Kelo vs. New London is probably the most publicized of such unconstitutional atrocities, but similar atrocities occur daily across this country.
How many of us have attempted to help the victims of such abuses of power? I myself have done so no more than once or twice.
I ask any FReeper who happens upon this thread to take ten minutes of his or her day to read about one such abuse of power. In terms of land area, it is a small abuse, and it affects only two ordinary American citizens who wield no more power than you or I. But its ramifications are enormous. If we’re not going to decide to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the two relatively anonymous Americans I’d like to introduce to you, exactly when will we decide that it’s time to unite in revolt against the growing ‘privileged elite’ in this country, and the menace they represent to us all? The so-called legal/justice system is using all manner of wicked precedent to commit major, obscene private land grabs ... all such crimes tracing back to a desire for more wealth and power on the part of those who already wield more than you or I.
Before inserting the precious words ‘life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness’ into the Declaration, our Founders seriously considered using the wording ‘life, liberty and property’ (as originated by John Locke). I believe the latter to be a more powerful representation of our inalienable rights, but apparently the modern American government/judicial system vehemently disagrees with either expression.
Don and Susie Kirlin own a vacant lot, worth roughly a million dollars in today’s market, on the outskirts of Boulder, Colorado. They purchased it about twenty years ago with the idea of eventually building a home there. It is located just down the road from their current home, they walk by the land regularly, and they have been paying taxes on it faithfully for the past two decades.
Unfortunately for the Kirlins the couple that owns a home adjacent to their lot consists of a county judge, Richard McLean, and his wife, Edith Stevens, who is also an attorney. McLean and Stevens have been active, and powerful, in Boulder County politics for decades. It seems that this ambitious couple has been using a portion of the Kirlins’ land to occasionally hold their own private parties, and, in doing so, they have also created worn pathways through portions of that land.
It also would appear that these two believe that, if the Kirlins build a home on the land they purchased for just that reason, the view of the surrounding landscape from their own home would be diminished.
When the Kirlins attempted to build a fence on a portion of their vacant land before beginning construction on it, McLean and Stevens had a restraining order issued against them, stating that, since they had been using the land themselves for some time, they had become ‘attached’ to it and they are claiming it as their own. The restraining order was issued within a few hours of their request for it. Apparently the wheels of justice move at lighting speed, if the person requesting the moving has the right connections.
As a result, McLean and Stevens have invoked the doctrine of ‘adverse possession’, which allows a citizen to claim another’s property simply by virtue of using it for a specified period of time, in order to declare one third of the Kirlins’ land as their own. A Boulder judge has ordered the Kirlins to hand over to McLean and Stevens one-third of their land, which will result in their no longer owning sufficient land on which to construct not only their dream home but any home at all.
As if the preceding weren’t evidence in itself of unmitigated chutzpah, McLean and Stevens are not only claiming to ‘own’ a large portion of the land in question (without ever having paid a penny for it, or any of the taxes incumbent in its ownership), but they are also asking the court to rule that the Kirlins must pay any legal fees that they incur in order to achieve this particular theft.
Thus, as is becoming increasingly common in Amerika 2007, two people in power have decided to use a corrupt system to steal from someone else of lesser political stature -- in this case, out in the open, and without conscience or remorse.
Needless to say, the Kirlins are appealing the ruling (and amassing large, and no doubt growing, legal fees in the process). But I wouldn’t be taking any bets on their success. ‘Fighting city hall’ is fast becoming an empty phrase anymore, because the concepts of government of, by and for the people -- originally made possible by public servants who value individual rights more than government power -- is fast heading for extinction, as corruption, greed, and lust for power achieve a momentum that has become virtually relentless and unstoppable. Not to mention the fact that both the eighth (re: coveting) and tenth (re: stealing) of the Ten Commandments have essentially been declared null and void.
This case vividly portrays the battle between the average American citizen and our modern American 'ruling elite'. Yet too many Americans are more interested in the comfort of our couches, and the proximity of our remote controls, than we are in the plight of the likes of the Kirlins -- victims of a system gone awry.
Unless we Americans start giving a damn about the abuses that our neighbors suffer under tyrannical government dictates, those abuses will someday affect us, and there will be nobody left who can turn the tragedy around.
The only difference between appeasement and surrender is the passage of time.
Contact Information for Boulder, Colorado officials (and thanks, in advance, to all who avail themselves of this source of redress):
Cindy Domenico, Boulder County Commissioner
Ben Pearlman, Boulder County Commissioner
Will Toor, Boulder County Commissioner
Joan Fitzgerald, Colorado State Senator, District 16
Brandon Shaffer, Colorado State Senator, District 17
Ron Tupa, Colorado State Senator, District 18
Alice Madden, Colorado State Representative, District 10
Jack Pommer, Colorado State Representative, District 11
Paul Weissmann, Colorado State Representative, District 12
Claire Levy, Colorado State Representative, District 13
Dianne Primavera, Colorado State Representative, District 33
Resources:
Legal Landgrab Should Be Overturned on Appeal
Boulder Couple Accuses Former Judge, Mayor of Land Grab
Hard Feelings on Hardscrabble Drive
~ joanie
Allegiance and Duty Betrayed
(Bob Greenlee, Nov. 4 column)
I wonder if this guy knows of the cronyism which is apparently involved?
There were no fences. The Kirlins didn't think fence, until it was way too late. They were also unable to provide any witnesses that they did anything on the property in question in court. The neighbors who were in present and lived adjacent to the property testified that they frequently saw the judge doing work on the property in question all those years.
the judge mowed the lawn out there all the time and the Kirlins never thought twice about it. They didn't say anything. They blew it. BTW, intervening tenancy refers to intervening ownership only.
Is that a ‘no trespassing’ sign in the photo of the property? (next to the fenceline, on the right of the ‘path’) Was the property posted?
No neighbors backed the Kirlins. They backed the judge. I'll see if I can go back and find the court docs.
The Kirlins say:
One of the HOA board members and a 20-plus year resident just a few doors down from the property, along with our HOA management company, testified that there were no signs that anyone was using our property! One of plaintiffs' own witnesses even testified that our lot looked like a vacant lot as if no one was doing much with it.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1929194/posts?page=47#47
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That does not square with how you have characterized the court documents. Are you saying there was no such testimony by the HOA neighbor or plaintiff witness?
You're talking about eminent domain's original intent. Are you not aware of the many abuses that are taking place nowadays (like confiscating people's land in order to build a shopping mall or a casino just because the latter yields higher tax revenue, and that is defined as "for the public good"?) Do you not agree that such seizures of private property are not what was originally intended by eminent domain?
It looks like either Susie Kirlin is lying or spunkets is misrepresenting/doesn’t know the contents of the court documents.
eminent domain has been abused- but historically,(at times) it is a necessary evil.
I only noted important findings. None of what you gave there is important. It is simply various opinions that the property looks unimproved, which all agree that it does. The management Co reps never did an exam and neither did the guy that lives a few doors down. That's an important part of the testimony that is left out. Those that did have first hand knowledge of the activity, who did it and surveyors testimony did back the judge's story.
"One of plaintiffs' own witnesses even testified that our lot looked like a vacant lot as if no one was doing much with it."
It doesn't matter what much amounted to. All that matters is that the judge used the property as he saw fit to and the Kirlins never said boo. ...until it was too late of course.
There was plenty of testimony indicating the judge used the property as he saw fit to, no testimony the Kirlins did anything to stop him and no corroborating testimony that indicated the Kirlins did anything to the property. In fact the Kirlins did nothing to even get to know their neighbors and they ignored the obvious signs of activity that were going on there, such as mowing the lawn and flower plantings along some wall.
Since one of the key points of dispute is whether there was "open and notorious use" by the judge, why wouldn't such testimony be important?
BTTT
It will be interesting to see how the citizens of Boulder react in the next local elections.
Needs to be forwarded to Bill O Reilly
>>Cite for all 50 States please.<<
“Ask ANY real estate agent in ANY state about it.”
No, spunkets is citing the law and it is up to them to back up their assertion. If this indeed is the law in all 50 states then they should have no trouble with the requested cites.
..but still outrageous, I agree joanie
Horse Hillary! People buy land everyday in this nation and leave it vacant for years. Some live out of state and buy land for future use such as at retirement and may not see it for a decade or more. You may condone or support these kind of acts but not so long ago this kinda act would have justified a landowner filling someones hind quarter with buckshot.
Hey I know of some high priced commercial land in my area that the owners have not set foot on in 20 years and no one has improved on it. Now what do you suppose is my odds of moving in taking it from them in court. Not a snownballs chance. One set of rules for thee another set for me right? These so call lawyers or so called officers of the court need disbarred and stiff civil compensation given to the landowners as well.
Because he is probably a Wisconsin “Progressive”. One of the reasons why I won’t retire to the state of my birth.
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