The Hysteria over the Court's property rights ruling

I had the priviledge of being on vacation when the Supreme Court, in the case of Kelo vs. New London, ruled that a government entity could take land through the power of eminent domain for purposes that "are rationally related to a conceivable public purpose." While listening to the conservative talking heads, Limbaugh and Hannity, both the hosts and especially callers were talking like the sky was falling and that soon the government would be taking people's lands willy-nilly on a whim.

Let me try to clear a few things up for you. Basically what the court said was that federal law did not prevent states for using eminent domain to take private property for uses other than for public projects (such as roads, schools, etc.). I am still mystified that people as allegedly intelligent as Limbaugh and Hannity used this ruling to whip people into a frezny rather than to explain to people that this is really a state and local issue and the federal government did not have any laws allowing or requiring it to intervene. Some states and localities already have laws restricting the use of eminent domain for strictly public projects. I think governments using eminent domain for anything should be a last resort. But there are cases when the true public good benefits from a particular project being completed, even if eminent domain is used to acquire some land. Keep in mind that we are not talking about governments just deciding to take property without the developer in question trying to first by the property at a fair price. Even though the talk shows and many alarmists would lead you to believe otherwise.

I think their should be restrictions as well as some oversight of the process, perhaps similiar to how planning and zoning commissions work in many cities, to make sure that this process is not abused and that first every effort is made to buy the land at a fair price. Should developers get to use this so they don't have to pay as much for the property? Not only no but hell no! But should an entire development, including those perhaps creating hundreds of jobs, be held hostage by either a property owner that just likes to be a thorn in the side of others (we probably all know someone like that) or one that wants to get rich in the process. The Kansas Speedway might not exist today if eminent domain was not used. Think of how many jobs that would have cost the area. In that case you also have to think that if the speedway was not their, Nebraska Furniture Mart, Cabellas and the entire Village West development would also likely not have been built. Is it fair for a handful of landowners saying "I was here first so tough shit for the rest of you, its me first here" while the rest of the community loses? I don't think so. I do think the compensation should be enough not just to cover market value but assitance to relocate as well.

Again, this is a state and local, not a federal issue. The supreme court made a good decision by basically deciding not to get involved here and lets the states sort it out. Funny how many conservatives want less federal involvement but here they seem to be against that. More liberals seem to be for it, and they normally love big government. Seems odd to me.

To me what it boils down to is that the community as a whole should be more of a priority than a handful of people. Yes, they should be treated fairly, and well compensated, but they should not get rich from it either.

If states or cities want to pass laws to restrict the practice (I believe they exist at least to an extent here in Missouri already) then they have every right to do so. Also, if local officials are buddy buddy with a developer and cut him a sweetheart deal using eminent domain, there should be a process in place to settle the dispute (there is actually, its called the court system) and those same local officials will likely face an angry public voting them out of office when the next election rolls around. Had the court ruled for Kelo in this case, it could have had a chilling effect on developments that need eminent domain to happen and are for the good of the whole community (like maybe a plant opening and creating 300 jobs).

If you want to read the actual ruling, you can view it here:
http://www.supremecourtus.gov/opinions/04slipopinion.html