Private "Property"
[Subscription link - "blogreader" password: "blogreader"] When the government seizes private property in the name of public good, it is supposed to be for a compelling reason. The public benefit should be clear and must outweigh individual homeowners' rights. [shaky principle in the first place...] That was not the case in New London, where homes in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood were taken for private development that, if the city's redevelopment plans come to pass, will be primarily used to benefit the nearby Pfizer facility. This overly broad application of eminent domain statutes recently was upheld 4-3 by the [Conn.] Supreme Court. Its ruling is an injustice to the holdout homeowners who will lose their property under the vague umbrella of urban renewal. Beyond that, the court seemed to say that if a private project has the potential to create jobs or raise tax revenue in an economically depressed area, any land the developer covets is fair game.
Scared yet?
Scared already!
Back in 1996, my parents filed bankruptcy. The IRS was continually telling them they’d take the house, that it was theirs to seize… turns out they were violating due process by not getting permission from the county and state levels before initiating the seizure papers.
Parents found out, confronted the IRS...seizure effort quietly ended.
Not the same as what you highlighted there, but it is very frightening- and disheartening. It seems like yet another onslaught in some unspoken war on the everymen and women of the US.
Posted by Lachlan on 03/12/04 at 03:43 PMThat unspoken war—government.
Posted by Claire on 03/13/04 at 07:03 AMThis is the same tactic the city used in my hometown of Lakewood, OH. Only the voters turned it down when it was brought to them.
I think it’s time for a Supreme Court challenge of these cities’ heedless ignorance of the Constitution. The only trouble is, which way will the court rule? Too many Justices are wusses about rights if the individuals don’t happen to be minorities.
Posted by Linda on 03/17/04 at 11:15 PMGood that it actually went before the voters.
Maybe we are gonna hafta figure out how we all can be minorities! Gyno-American? Literate-American? Unsocialist-American? The list is endless . . .
Posted by Claire on 03/18/04 at 02:14 AM
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