Free Republic

An entire neighborhood was uprooted to make way for a big money development which will never be built!Want to know why people are mad at the nexus between big government and big money? The Famous 'Kelo House' Property Is Now A Vacant Lot By John Carney The Business Insider Law Review Nov. 10, 2009 What you are looking at above is a monument to government folly. It is the vacant lot where the home of Susette Kelo once stood. A decade ago, the town of New London, Connecticut claimed Kelo's house by right of eminent domain. The plan was to...

Stories like this just make me weep for my country. In September local Connecticut news station WTNH reported: Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation’s most notorious eminent domain project.There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne’s lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the lot’s towering trees and the adjacent sewage treatment plant.But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and ribboned with up to 3,169 new jobs...

The private homes New London, Conn., took through eminent domain from Suzette Kelo and others, are torn down now, but Pfizer has just announced that it closing up shop at the research facility that led to the condemnation. Leading drugmakers Pfizer and Wyeth have merged, and as a result, are trimming some jobs. That includes axing the 1,400 jobs at their sparkling new research & development facility in New London, and moving some across the river to Groton. To lure those jobs to New London a decade ago, the local government promised to demolish the older residential neighborhood adjacent to...

Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation's most notorious eminent domain project. But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and ribboned with up to 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues? They are noticeably missing.

The majority upheld that the city of New London, Conn., could declare as urban blight the Kelo house and the well-kept neighborhood it was in so that the city could sell it to a developer who promised 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues. Four years later? Nothing. The land the city stole [not legally stealing because Ruth Bader Ginsberg told them they could do it] truly is urban blight today, Katie Nelson of the Associated Press reported.

It is already known that Barack Obama's Supreme Court nominee Sonia Sotomayor has used racist language to describe herself as more qualified than "white males." According to "Vote No on Sotomayor" (Wall Street Journal, July 24 2009, page A13), Sonia Sotomayor also, as a jurist on the Second Circuit, voted to sanction the moral and ethical equivalent of retail theft by price tag switching. This is strong language, but we invite our readers to tell us why it does not accurately describe the quoted material: Judge Sotomayor also revealed a troubling approach to property rights in Didden v. Village of...

George Mason University law professor (and Reason contributor) Ilya Somin catches Sonia Sotomayor misstating a central fact about the Supreme Court's eminent domain decision in Kelo v. City of New London during her confirmation hearings today: In response to questioning by Democratic Senator Herb Kohl, Sotomayor refused to reveal her view of Kelo, a standard tactic used by previous Supreme Court nominees, but also incorrectly claimed that Kelo upheld a taking in an "economically blighted area"... In reality, both sides in the Kelo litigation agreed that the area in question was not blighted. As Justice John Paul Stevens noted in...

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.Kids at Creative Steps Day Camp were thrilled to go swimming once a week at the Valley Swim Club. But after only one trip to the private club, they were... "I heard this lady, she was like, 'Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?' She's like, 'I'm scared they might do something to my child,'" said camper Dymire Baylor. The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The...

... Judge Sonia Sotomayor will doubtless be questioned about Kelo at her confirmation hearings next month. But her answers will be complicated by her participation in a 2006 decision applying and extending Kelo. Bart Didden, the property owner on the losing side of that decision, Didden v. Village of Port Chester, said in an interview that he had been contacted by aides to Republicans on the Senate Judiciary Committee who seemed eager to explore Judge Sotomayor’s views on property rights. The ruling in Didden is not popular among some property rights and constitutional law professors. Eight of them filed a...

In view of the latest info on the pharmacist shooting, I think it is important for each of us to know what our individual states say about self defense. I would recommend that FReepers from each state post a "Castle Doctrine - Yourownstate" thread so that their fellow FReepers and lurkers know what their status is. Washington state has no specific Castle Doctrine. But neither is there a "duty to retreat" statute either. Here is the RCW: RCW 9A.16.050Homicide — By other person — When justifiable. Homicide is also justifiable when committed either: (1) In the lawful defense of the...

Barr Township, PA (AHN) - Two families who belong to an ultraconservative Amish sect were locked out of their homes Monday over the way they dispose of sewage. The Miller and Swartenzentruver families were ordered out of their homes because they were using an outhouse and spreading the waste on their fields without proper treatment. Building and health officials took the families to court after neighbors expressed fear that the practices would contaminate their fields. The families say the health and building codes violate their religious beliefs. A member of the sect was sentenced in March to 90 days in...

Almost anyone who reads this remembers the brave passengers of flight 93, who, on 9/11, overpowered the hijackers on their flight and caused the airplane to crash in a Pennsylvania field instead of the White House or Capital. Certainly we would all agree that those brave souls should be memorialized. But do you imagine any of them would want their memorial for selfless sacrifice to come at the price of their fellow American’s property? Can anyone explain why a memorial to these brave Americans must be 2,200 acres in size and force property owners in the area where the airplane...

The Episcopal Church filed suit Tuesday to regain control of Fort Worth-area church buildings and other property held by a breakaway contingent led by Bishop Jack Iker. "We're stewards of property that has been given for generations to the Episcopal Church. We can't just let people walk off with it," said Kathleen Wells, chancellor for the reorganized Episcopal Diocese of Fort Worth. The suit was filed in Tarrant County district court and names Iker as a defendant, among others. -snip-

Governor Markell Set to Sign Senate Bill 7 WEB RELEASE: April 3, 2009 CONTACT: Bob Ewing (703) 682-9320 Arlington, Va.—For the second time in as many years, the Delaware legislature has passed historic eminent domain reform. Both houses of the Delaware legislature voted unanimously to approve S.B. 7, which will protect homes, small businesses, farms and houses of worship from the abuse of eminent domain for private profit. The legislation heads to Governor Jack Markell, who has said he would sign the bill. “Delaware just shot to the head of the class,” said Steven Anderson, an attorney at the Institute...

Since China is holding $4 Trillion of our debt this is real and it will happen! There is terrifying news about a secret deal worked out by Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and the Chinese Communists. At this point it is not fully confirmed, but America if it is true we are in for some very bad times under Barack Obama. Things are far worse than we imagined. The deal struck with the Communists goes like this: using the Kelo v New London decision (one of the two most destructive Supreme Court decisions in the past forty years) President Obama...

Ebensburg, Pa. (AP) -- A western Pennsylvania Amish farmer was sentenced Tuesday to 90 days in jail after refusing to bring a pair of outhouses into compliance with state sewage laws. Andy Swartzentruber, of Ebensburg, cited his conservative religious beliefs in refusing to abide by a court order to make the privies used by schoolchildren compliant and pay a $500 fine. Cambria County Judge Norman Krumenacker said he respected the Amish's religious beliefs but had no choice but to sentence Swartzentruber to jail and fine him $1,000 for being in contempt of court. "Quite frankly, this is not a religious...

Um, no actually... we don't you radical Leftist MORON! Well, at least we know why they are illegally breaking into homes and generally acting like criminal idiots. The New York Executive Director of ACORN visited Stuart Varney on the Fox Business Channel. These people are radical and frankly, nuts!

HOUSE BILL No. 6394 September 3, 2008, Introduced by Reps. Elsenheimer and Walker and referred to the Committee on Intergovernmental, Urban and Regional Affairs. A bill to amend 2006 PA 110, entitled "Michigan zoning enabling act," (MCL 125.3101 to 125.3702) by adding section 409.

"Dale Henderson, a prominent Maine landowner who owns two pieces of land that the new trail runs through, is challenging the state over ownership of parts of the new Sunrise Trail. About 50 miles of the project recently was opened to hikers, bikers, cross-country skiers, snowmobiles and all-terrain vehicles. But Henderson isn’t waiting for the courts to decide his fate. He already has taken matters into his own hands. The landowner recently erected barricades to stop users from traversing his property. In the town of Hancock, Henderson put up a berm on the tracks at one end and a stone...

For Dale Allee, a second-generation cattle rancher in southern Colorado, the idiom that nothing is certain but death and taxes is now a reality. "I just turned 80 last week. You know what that means? That means I'm not going to be around here very long, and somebody's going to have to pay those taxes," said Allee, who fears federal estate taxes will thwart his plans to pass his 4,200-acre Pueblo County ranch to his children. Land-rich but cash poor, Western ranchers are lobbying Washington to exempt them from the estate tax, which can force heirs to sell their inheritance...

The financial meltdown has produced a vast patchwork of foreclosed and abandoned single-family homes across America, accelerating the decades-long migration of our nation's poor from cities to the suburban fringe. In 2005, as rising property values reduced affordable-housing stock in inner-city neighborhoods, suburban poverty, in raw numbers, topped urban poverty for the first time. The trend will continue. By 2025, predicts planning expert Arthur C. Nelson, America will face a market surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (a sixth of an acre or more), attracting millions of low-income residents deeper into suburbia where decay and social and geographic isolation will...

Alaska officials on Wednesday ruled that Alaska governor and former GOP vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin must pay back taxes to the IRS. The exact amount the governor must pay is not yet known, but the Associated Press estimates she owes taxes on more than $17,000 in per-diem expenses. State employees who live more than 50 miles away from Alaska's capital, Juneau, are entitled to state aid in the form of per-diem payments. Juneau is approximately 600 miles from Palin's home town of Wasilla, making the governor eligible for the payments. But before she accepted the vice presidential nomination, Palin...

You may think you know all the intrigue and drama of Susette Kelo’s story. But be prepared to be outraged anew with the release of Little Pink House: A True Story of Defiance and Courage (Grand Central Publishing, January 26, 2009, $26.99), a first-rate nonfiction drama told by award-winning author Jeff Benedict. Benedict’s work takes readers behind the scenes—showcasing Kelo’s fight to save her home and New London Development Corporation President Claire Gaudiani’s effort to take it away. Little Pink House will rightfully transform Kelo from a hero in the fight for property rights into a popular legend in the...

Takings cases linger Appeals opinion could cost $15M By TIMOTHY O'HARA AND ROB BUSWEILER Citizen Staff Monroe County may have to spend at least $15 million to buy nearly a dozen pieces of Florida Keys properties because the government's land-use regulations rendered them undevelopable, according to a court opinion issued Wednesday. The 3rd District Court of Appeals decision overturns two property-rights cases, one that favored Monroe County and one that favored the city of Marathon, both rendered by 16th Judicial Circuit Judge David Audlin. In the former, Audlin ruled against Thomas Collins and 10 other property owners who sued the...

Alert: Immediate Action Required! Friday, November 28, 2008 Tuesday night the Goochland Board of Supervisors will gather and cast a vote on new language to be included in the Comprehensive Plan. If approved, the consequences of these changes on property owners will be paralyzing. Property values and surrounding counties will be compromised. Marketability of real estate will be further diminished and areas of Goochland County will be neglected for important infrastructure investment. Once again, government is trying to tell citizens what they can do with their land. Help send a message to these politicians that the best comprehensive plan is...

The Nativity Project Proponents of public displays of nativity scenes are taking a pro-active approach for the 2008 holiday season. Last Thursday, organizers of the Nativity Project placed a display on the sidewalk outside of the Supreme Court in Washington, D.C. Their point: That it’s completely legal for private citizens to place religious displays on public sites. Rev. Rob Schenck is the president of the National Clergy Council, which is a co-sponsor of the Nativity Project. “This is not only okay, it is to be encouraged,” Schenck said, CBNNews.com reported. “In fact the more we exercise this right the stronger...

Mamyrah Prosper steps gingerly over ankle-high grass strewn with plastic bags and empty soda bottles in the yard of a vacant redbrick house in Miami's Liberty City. She peers through a gap in a boarded-up window. "It looks in good shape," she says. "I mean, the walls aren't falling down. This is definitely one of our stronger options." Prosper means that if the place checks out, she and her colleagues from Take Back the Land, a local group that advocates for affordable housing, will break in, change the locks, paint and clean, innovate a way to connect water and electricity,...

...So YOU thought KELO was abusive...??? KLEPTOCRACY 201 - Today's Lesson Today, class, we will learn how to exercise 'eminent domain' without that pesky need to pay the owner ANYTHING for the property... ...and using this new method, you can not only strong-arm the property away from its rightful owner, but you STILL get to keep shaking down the "property owner" for all those great  PROPERTY TAXES on the parcel, AS WELL! ...WHAT could be BETTER than THAT???!!! ...It's a Kleptocrat's DREAM!!!

Walter Ritte, coordinator of Hui Ho’opakele Aina presented 500 signatures September 18 to the Maui County Council demanding funding for an appraisal of Moloka`i Ranch--owner of 1/3 of Moloka`i--as part of an effort to have Maui County illegally use eminent domain to condemn the ranch and hand it over to Ritte’s group. Moloka`i is one of only three communities in the entire United States which were exempted from welfare reform allowing benefits to continue indefinitely.

Governor Vetoes Eminent Domain Legislation Override Sought as Lawmakers Enter Final Day of Session Governor Minner has vetoed legislation which would have placed tight restrictions on when a government could resort to the use of eminent domain to confiscate property. Legislation passed in the General Assembly last week would have kept a government from using eminent domain to promote economic development. Businesses near the Wilmington riverfront have been concerned that the city wants to take their property to keep development moving forward. Some of those property owners will be on hand to urge lawmakers to override the Governor's veto. Lawmakers...

In her two great works--The Death and Life of Great American Cities and The Economy of Cities—Jane Jacobs explained that effective economic development and urban renewal arise from the bottom up as the product of thousands of enterprises and people working on their own without a master plan, rather than from the top down, as planned by politicians or bureaucrats. The vibrancy and diversity of city markets and neighborhoods lie in “the creation of incredible numbers of different people and different private organizations, with vastly differing ideas and purposes, planning and contriving outside the formal framework of public action,” she...

Proponents of Prop. 98 Respond to Election Outcome Vow to Work on Legislative Solution to End Eminent Domain Abuse Sacramento, CA - Jon Coupal, president of the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association, issued the following statement on the outcome of the Election. "Since the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision in 2005 more than 40 states have passed reforms that would prohibit government from profiting by seizing private property and giving it to politically connected developers. Prop. 98 was the only measure on the ballot that addressed the Kelo decision by providing comprehensive protections to all private property and...

Both would load up the state constitution to attack a problem that just doesn't exist - It's back. Yet another initiative – Proposition 98 – is on the ballot masquerading as "eminent domain" reform and trying to scare people with the prospect that their homes might be "taken" by the government.Yet Proposition 98 is really about a sweeping agenda to lard up the California Constitution to end forever the ability of local governments to enact rent control or affordable housing ordinances, to set rules that set liquor store hours or to require developers to pay fees to build schools.In Sacramento,...

In the battle over two state propositions on Tuesday's ballot that would restrict government seizure of private property, nearly a majority of California voters support the more limited Proposition 99 while giving thumbs down to Proposition 98, which would abolish rent control, according to a Field Poll released today. A survey of 660 likely voters conducted May 17-26 found 48 percent favoring Prop. 99, with 30 percent opposed and 22 percent undecided, according to the poll results. Those supporting Prop. 98 stood at 33 percent, with 43 percent opposed and 24 percent undecided. Field Poll Director Mark DiCamillo said he'd...

I never imagined that in America, I could be sued for speaking about politics. My ordeal began in early 2006 when my husband, Wes, and I heard about a petition being circulated seeking to annex our unincorporated neighborhood ... We researched the issue and decided that the extra layer of government wouldn't provide better services, while our sales tax would skyrocket. We'd be paying more for less. We own a print shop, so Wes used some scraps and made a couple of yard signs. One said "No Annexation" and the other said "Annexation Is A Permanent Tax Increase." We planted...

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court upheld a Connecticut city's right to seize through eminent domain the waterfront homes of long-time residents for private development. The court held that, like the construction of schools and roads, economic development itself constitutes a "public use" under the Fifth Amendment. Both liberals and conservatives were outraged. As dissenting Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory." Some 40 states responded by passing...

The U.S. Supreme Court created a huge political backlash when it ruled that local governments could use eminent domain to seize private property and transfer it to other private owners for "economic development." Since the Kelo ruling in 2005, 42 states have enacted limitations on eminent domain — not always effective ones. But like lawmakers in many other states, some California officials are trying to block real eminent domain reform. On June 3, Californians will vote on Proposition 99, a ballot initiative sponsored by groups representing cities, counties, redevelopment agencies and other pro-condemnation interests. It purports to protect property rights...

The Dirty Dozen By Robert A. Levy and William Mellor (Sentinel, 302 pages, $25.95) Town fathers of Norway, take note. You have a new adversary in Ellen Anderson. Ms. Anderson is the Minnesota state senator who is pushing legislation to freeze foreclosures on homes with subprime mortgages in the name of "protecting the American dream." The economic chill from such a move – and from other attempts to protect "the American dream" from mortgage meltdown – would likely be felt around the world by pension plans, banks and municipalities that have invested in mortgage-backed securities. As it happens, a number...

The View - Yes on Prop. 98/No on Prop. 99 - The Battle to Restore Private Property Rights Since California has failed to join more than 40 states in reforming its eminent domain statutes, a diverse group of business, farm and taxpayer organizations have taken a leading role in restoring private property protections for California business property by qualifying Proposition 98, the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act, for the June 2008 ballot. It is well documented that business owners are the most common victims of eminent domain abuse because of local governments' appetite for sales tax revenue to...

Big Government types and Prop 99 All you really need to know about the two eminent domain propositions on the June 3 ballot, 98 and 99, is that Proposition 99 is being touted by politicians and other government types as the real solution to government intrusion on private property ownership. Among them are the usual suspects, including California Sen. Dianne Feinstein and California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, both of whom believe in Big Government, and both of whom describe Proposition 98 as a hindrance to solving such state problems as water quality and supply. Feinstein, in a release at the end...

Editorial: Prop. 98 protects private property rights June election is coming: Vote yes on Prop. 98, for real eminent-domain reform, and no on Prop. 99, which is designed to stop such reform. The campaigns for Propositions 98 and 99 on the June 3 ballot are getting heated, and it would be no surprise if most California voters are confused by the two eminent domain-related measures. As often occurs in political campaigns, one side or the other misrepresents the purpose of its initiative. For instance, Prop. 99's supporters claim that the measure will stop eminent domain abuses that have become well...

One of the most important Constitutional questions in the history of our Republic might be decided over a few acres of rat infested railroad yards in Brooklyn and a handful of doughty home owners who like living nearby. The question is whether the Constitution permits a developer to seize the property of the few residents continuing to live in the footprint of the proposed Atlantic Yards development near downtown Brooklyn. The question is now pending before the Supreme Court of the United States because, as our Joseph Goldstein reported yesterday at Page 1, more than a dozen plaintiffs, including three...

In June 2005, the Supreme Court rendered its infamous Kelo v. New London decision. The Court’s 5-4 majority, despite the clear language of the Fifth Amendment, decided that “public use” (roads, bridges, etc.) really means “public purpose” (anything the government wants). In the absence of state or local laws to the contrary, the ruling in effect green-lighted whimsical use of the government’s power of eminent domain nationwide. What has happened in New London, Connecticut since the Kelo ruling is an object lesson in why the Supremes were wrong.

A dispute over the proper valuation of 10 acres of property in Eisenhower Valley has two of the city’s oldest families and the Sanitation Authority pitted against each other, with the sellers asking for $40 million and the city holding out for $10 million less. The Hoof-Fagelson Tract, formerly a go-kart track that now serves as a maintenance parking lot for Thrifty Rent-A-Car, is landlocked on one side by Carlyle development, and on the other side by I-495. While the tract sits next to Alexandria’s Waste Treatment facility, it also adjoins a proposed $150 million office and retail development at...

If David Paterson as governor displays the opposition to eminent domain that he showed as a state senator, several high-profile development projects in New York City could be derailed or delayed, including a Columbia University expansion, the Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, and the transformation of Willets Point in Queens. As a state Senate leader, Mr. Paterson in 2005 held a rally with Council Member Letitia James and state Senator William Perkins on the steps of City Hall during which he called for a statewide moratorium on the use of eminent domain. Mr. Paterson said a decision handed down by...

REFUGIO, Texas - With an abandoned Wild West-vintage town of storefronts slumbering just a block from old US 77, tiny Refugio is a place where myth and reality coexist in a ghostly silence. more stories like this Obama faces heat over aide's NAFTA remarks to Canadians Texas, Ohio could decide Dem nomination Canada says didn't misrepresent Obama over NAFTA McCain tags Dems on trade treaty NAFTA seen differently in Ohio, Texas And now this South Texas outpost is swept up in one of the more intriguing tests of myth vs. reality in today's political life: the battle over the so-called...

Propositions that are on the June 3, 2008 Statewide Direct Primary Election Ballot Initiative Constitutional AmendmentProposition 98 1248. Government Acquisition, Regulation of Private Property. Constitutional Amendment. Proponents: Doug Mosebar, Jon Coupal and Jim Nielsen Bars state and local governments from condemning or damaging private property for private uses. Prohibits rent control and similar measures. Prohibits deference to government in property rights cases. Defines “just compensation.” Requires an award of attorneys fees and costs if a property owner obtains a judgment for more than the amount offered by the government. Requires government to offer to original owner of condemned property...

One major concern I discussed a few weeks ago regarding the Trans Texas Corridor is where the land will come from. Another concern is where the money will come from. Official government websites for the TTC assure that public-private partnerships will shield the taxpayer from bearing too much of the cost burden, but a careful reading shows the door is definitely open to public funding sources, while at the same time there is no doubt of the intention to charge tolls on the road. Taxpayers already pay for their transportation system through hefty gasoline taxes, vehicle registration fees, and other...

EL CALABOZ, Tex. -- In the 240 years since the Spanish Crown granted Eloisa Tamez's colonial ancestors title to this flat, grassy expanse along the Rio Grande's northern bank, her family has steadily lost its holdings...Now Tamez faces what could prove the final blow: The Department of Homeland Security has proposed building a section of the U.S-Mexico border fence mandated by Congress directly through the last three acres of the family's original 12,000-acre tract. But the 72-year-old nursing professor has a message for government officials who expect her to leave. "I'm not going down without a fight," Tamez said..., Across...

(AP) When 70-year-old Betty Perry was accused of neglecting her lawn, she became defiant. Perry was arrested, handcuffed and briefly jailed in July for declining a ticket for failing to water her lawn. She agreed on Friday to resolve her case by pleading guilty to a disorderly conduct charge and paying a $100 fine. She also faces six months of probation. Perry was scheduled to go to trial Monday on a more serious charge of resisting arrest for refusing to give her name, accept a citation or allow herself to be handcuffed on her front steps. "She ends up with...