Private Property at risk

I hope that you are just as outraged by the recent US Supreme Court case, Kelo v. City of New London, as I am. The slim majority in this case ruled that local governments may force United States citizens to sell their private property to make way for private economic development when local officials decide it would benefit the public, even if that property is not run down and the new project's success is not guaranteed.

The right to private property ownership is a founding principle for this country. This right was thought by the founding fathers to be integral to the rights of life and liberty. Property ownership is not merely the right to buy and sell objects, but an underlying belief that guides the actions of men and their governments. President John Adams said, “the moment the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence.”

It is that self-determination that separates us from despotic regimes around the world. We shouldn’t have to live with the fear that some county commissioner can come knocking on my door and tell me that I have to move so they can build a strip mall! The court said that they had to give fair compensation for the property seizure. Well, who do you think will be the ones to decide what is “fair”? The thieves themselves!

What is to stop a local official from seizing my property so his cousin can build a condo? President Gerald Ford is quoted as saying that “a government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.” His words seem more prophetic than ever.

The philosopher John Locke said that “the great and chief end, therefore, of men’s uniting into commonwealths, and putting themselves under government, is the preservation of their property.” In the spirit of this idea, I am asking that you jump to the forefront on this issue and draft legislation limiting the taking of private property. Require that local governments PROVE, beyond the shadow of a doubt, that the “public good” is greatly enhanced by that taking of private property. Require that the property be blighted, or a public hazard, or that the property is a danger to others. Require detailed business plans with 5, 10 or 20 year outlooks. And allow the owner of the property a guaranteed right to appeal the seizure to a higher, impartial authority.