By Paul Jacob
It's a phenomenon all across America: local governments taking homes, businesses, churches, under the doctrine of eminent domain, so they can give that land to big retail outlets, which provide a lot more tax revenue.
It's economic development, say the politicians.
I call it stealing.
Eminent domain is the right of government to confiscate private property for public use. I don't like the idea, even with the Fifth Amendment guarantee of "just compensation." Just compensation is subjective. Still, it was generally intended to be used sparingly, for a truly "public" use, for instance, when a road necessitated taking property in a certain area.
The idea wasn't for governments to rob homeowners of their land and memories, and ruin small businesses to reward big businesses. Thank goodness homeowners in Connecticut -- with help from the Institute for Justice -- have taken their case all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Kelo v. City of New London involves homeowners trying to stop the city from giving their land to developers. I've talked about the case before. Now the Washington Post has weighed in. A recent editorial said, "[A]ll the justice is arrayed on one side, yet the law must come down on the other."
The Post admits, "The city's plans for some of the land are sketchy," but says New London is in need of "economic development" and the city's politicians know "best."
Let's hope the court won't adopt The Post's view: Big government, right or wrong.
This is Common Sense. I'm Paul Jacob.
Common Sense is published by Americans for Limited Government. Their website can be visited at www.limitedgov.org.