IN A DAY AND AGE where one voice screaming among thousands can have Christian monuments removed from public buildings and development projects shut down for the benefit of an endangered weed, we have the Supreme Court issuing a ruling in June to set the record straight for the majority. However, this ruling comes at the dismay of individual landowners across America, and threatens to further undermine the American privilege of individual ownership.
Eminent domain is the issue being brought to the table --- or more correctly, to the courts --- as our government legal system dukes it out over land use laws and public benefit.
Eminent domain has been invoked thousands of times, for public infrastructures and developments that include water lines, sewer systems, highways, railroads, and more. If the involved governing bodies determine collectively that there is a public benefit from the placement of such structures, even across private lands, these lands may be commandeered by Uncle Sam, after providing "just compensation" to the owner in the terms of dollars, and the property becomes public.
In recent years various local governments across the U.S. have been invoking eminent domain to acquire lands for privately owned mega-businesses such as shopping malls and retail stores, citing that benefits to the community outweigh the loss of ownership to the individuals. Many believe that increased tax dollars to the community for placement of such mega-stores is an additional incentive.
Tension has risen to the point that a case made it to the Supreme Court, which ruled in favor of the local government in upholding eminent domain. The Supreme Court's decision last month clarified that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private and public economic development.
Since the laws of this country are dynamic, or ever-changing, such rulings by the high court have a huge impact on future cases as individuals stand their ground against the billion dollar behemoths who are looking for prime space to make their next footprint.
While eminent domain is not the first choice of action, the top 2 retailers in the country have used this tactic a number of times to acquire the position they had been pursuing. More people vote with their dollars than with their ballots, and while some may oppose the pressure to small business and the loss of individual ownership that these developments cause, most consumers will frequent a new "big box" store if one is in their area, and complain if this type of availability is not nearby.
There appears to be little recourse for the general public against Supreme Court rulings of this type, accept to pressure Congressmen into developing new law that would counteract this approach. A California man came up with a brilliant suggestion though. Read on.
WEARE, N.H. - Following a Supreme Court ruling last week that gave local governments power to seize private property, someone has suggested taking over Justice David Souter's New Hampshire farmhouse and turning it into a hotel.
"The justification for such an eminent domain action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest as it will bring in economic development and higher tax revenue to Weare," Logan Darrow Clements of California wrote in a letter faxed to town officials in Weare on Tuesday.
Souter, a longtime Weare resident, joined in the 5-4 court decision allowing governments to seize private property from one owner and turn it over to another if doing so would benefit a community.
Tom Clouser is a 38 year old farmer in Pennsylvania. In addition to farming, he and his father publish a monthly 16-page newspaper called "Trees 'n' Turf", which targets subjects of interest to those in land use industries and activities. View their website at http://www.clouserfarm.net
express cleaning service Arlington Heights ..According to a postulate made by Ignacio Ramonet ecological resources... Read More
Many of the problems that the members of the European... Read More
Predicting the future is a tricky business. There have been... Read More
The most damaging factor to our economy today is the... Read More
In the fields of juvenile justice policy and programming, there... Read More
Sarbaines Oxley was probably the easiest way to destroy free... Read More
In the words of a secret agent who has signed... Read More
There are many issues on the minds of US voters... Read More
Indian and Pakistan and nuclear war. What does the world... Read More
You have in front of you two buttons, one is... Read More
Lecture given at the Netherlands Economic Institute (NEI) on 18/4/2001Human... Read More
We are slowing the transportation flows of our civilization by... Read More
Is Starbucks a monopoly? It fits all the definitions. Does... Read More
As of late steroid use in sports has been the... Read More
We know that the International Terrorists like the idea of... Read More
Ethanol is a great way to produce fuel, great fuel... Read More
Recently on C-SPAN, there were two gentlemen debating free trade... Read More
Kudos goes out to the George Walker Bush's Administration and... Read More
Rufus King: (Said to be the fifth most important person... Read More
The first reaction of economies in transition is a sharp... Read More
The Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development issued a report... Read More
Bill Cosby got it wrong. His many speeches regarding the... Read More
This is the second of a series of four articles... Read More
Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Men desire power. Give power to... Read More
IN A DAY AND AGE where one voice screaming among... Read More
tidy up service Arlington Heights .."Rugged individualism" is actually a euphemism for Thomas Hobbes' baseless... Read More
Well we have certainly been reading a lot about prison... Read More
Three years ago I published a book of short stories... Read More
While many Pennsylvanians are struggling to figure out how they... Read More
The American Dream is the promise to have it all... Read More
Societies have always had a problem of what to do... Read More
You, the reader, should be aware of my affluence of... Read More
The man on the tape raised his hand, pointing a... Read More
Proposed changes to the Sex Discrimination Act ("SDA") 1975 and... Read More
With the recent threats from Bin Laden and Al Queda... Read More
Back-Dooring the CSIS:The US and Israel have admitted they back-doored... Read More
Bosnia-Herzegovina (heretofore "Bosnia") is an artificial polity with four, tangentially... Read More
Those of us hundreds of miles from ground zero sat... Read More
ADOLF HITLER:The common perception of Hitler being large and in... Read More
WE MUST PUT A STOP TO THE EVER-INCREASING PRICE OF... Read More
The United States has enemies, which call the country the... Read More
I have witnessed a new era of security in the... Read More
Why President Bush should have his second term? The arguments... Read More
Peace in the Middle East - whoa that is a... Read More
THE ECCLESIASTICAL GRANT:There are good things done by the hegemony.... Read More
A few hours ago, Colonel Ely Ould Mohamed Vall, the... Read More
It can be dangerous to engage in free speech. This... Read More
The more I study the dynamics of WWII the more... Read More
As global warming continues to escalate the concerns of today's... Read More
With gasoline prices at the pump climbing strongly into the... Read More
Political |