Kelo V City of New London - Is Your Property In Good Hands?
Friday, August 21st, 2009Kelo V City of New London - Is Your Property In Good Hands?
The House of Representatives overwhelmingly approved a bill last Thursday to restrict the eminent domain powers of state and local governments. The Bill, which passed by a 376-38 margin, would withhold federal money from state and local governments if they used their eminent domain powers to confiscate private property and sell it to private developers.
The action by the House is in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling in Kelo vs. City of New London. In that landmark case, which was decided doug martz marion indiana on June 23rd of this year, the Supreme Court belize erotic held that the City of New London, Connecticut, could take private property from working-class citizens and sell it to a wealthy developer to build a riverfront hotel and office complex.
The ruling sent shock waves throughout the ranks of property owners everywhere and caused politicians at all levels to propose legislation that would restrict the taking of private property. The House bill that passed last Thursday is a direct reaction to the Kelo ruling. But, whether the bill ever becomes law or not, the real concern is a growing trend in this country toward the concentration of power and wealth among a few individuals at the expense of ordinary citizens.
For those not totally familiar with the Kelo case, a brief summary may be helpful. In 1998, the City of New London adopted a development plan for approximately 90 acres of its Fort Trumbull area. The plan included a waterfront conference hotel, a riverwalk, restaurants, shops, 80 new residences, a new U.S. Coast Guard Museum, and a renovated marina - all of which would be immediately adjacent to купить LG GB210 a $300 million research facility to be built by Pfizer, Inc., the pharmaceutical company.
In January of 2000, the city counsel approved the plan and authorized the NLDC, its development agent, to purchase the property or acquire it by eminent domain. Most of the properties were purchases but a few, notably that of laminat parke Susette Kelo and several others, refused to sell. As 99 cent wholesalers a result, the NLDC initiated condemnation proceedings, which gave rise to the Kelo case.
Susette Kelo and the other opponents argued that the City of New London’s attempt to take their property by eminent domain was a violation of their constitutional rights
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