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News-Sentinel.com Your Town. Your Voice.
Opening Arguments

The end is near

Susette Kelo, the namesake of the worst Supreme Court decision in recent memory, is one step cloer to being evicted from her property. And there is, of course, no remorse from the government thugs who are stealing the property:

New London Mayor Beth Sabilia says, "The City Council has authorized the Director of Law to begin the process to obtain the properties at Fort Trumbull."

Sabilia says, "There will be no bulldozers rumbling down at the Fort. There's a misconception out there that we have Judicial Marshals in the wings to remove people. We don't."

No, just a cadre of government lawyers who should be disbarred, during their third or fourth year in prison.

Comments

Doug
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 7:29am

That strikes me as hyperbole, at best. The duly elected legislature of the State of Connecticut passed a law stating that eminent domain in support of this sort of economic development was legal. The duly elected lawmakers of the City of New Haven, Connecticut decided to implement an economic development project in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood.

The statute and the city's development plan were upheld by the Supreme Court of Connecticut. The United States Supreme Court held that the statute and the plan did not violate the Fifth Amendment of the United States. Ms. Kelo is being compensated by the government taking.

To call this "stealing" is like saying "taxation is theft." And calling for the imprisonment and disbarment of lawyers executing the will of the government is just silly.

If you decide to own property in a place, you own it subject to the laws of the city, state, and nation that make ownership possible, even the unpopular ones like eminent domain.

Mike Sylvester
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 7:46am

This country was founded on property rights...

Those rights are being eroded by big government supporters in both The Republican and Democratic Parties.

This must stop.

Mike Sylvester

Jeff Pruitt
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 8:36am

This entire situation is a travesty. To take one's land and hand it to a private company is modern-day feudalism where the private corporation has become the vassal.

All state legislatures should take action to do their best to negate the Kelo decision at a local level and no candidate should be supported who will not stand up against this type of big-government abuse...

Doug
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 11:22am

I'll definitely agree that its an issue for the state legislatures to sort out. In the case of Connecticut, the state legislature acted specifically to allow this particular use of eminent domain. If citizens want to throw 'em out on their collective butts for enacting such legislation, that would certainly be appropriate.

But it's not "stealing" from Ms. Kelo for the government to evict her, so long as it affords her due process of law -- and she has had an extraordinary amount of process in this case -- and just compensation for what they take from her.

Jeff Pruitt
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 12:46pm

I don't know enough about Ms Kelo's compensation so I won't discuss it specifically. But, in general, "just compensation" is a joke.

For example, what if you had gotten just compensation for your property in san jose 15 years ago - would you consider that just today? Or what if the area Ms Kelo lives in does make a significant turn around and property values rise by 50+% over the next 5 years. Would she still have received just compensation?

I don't believe you ever receive "just compensation" unless you're actually agreeing to sell your property...

Mike Kole
Thu, 06/08/2006 - 6:20pm

Doug- Don't you feel just the slightest bit insecure in your home because of Kelo? Because the Kelo property isn't blighted, and because the redevelopment isn't for a genuine public use like a road or a bridge, the thing I take away from Kelo is that no matter what property you might have, some developer can conjure a different use for it that could generate more tax revenue for the municipality.

You have a nice single family home? I envision a nicer double. You have a nice double? I envision a 4-suiter. You have a nice strip mall? I envision a big box store. You have a big box store? I envision a factory. It's endless, with the result being you are never truly secure.

This is why the property rights argument is so important to so many people. If you don't feel secure in your property, where is the incentive to improve it or even to keep it up? You thought your home, the largest investment the common person makes, was to provide for your retirement? You'll take what the court decides is fair compensation and like it!

Now, sure it's legal in Conn. I recall that Jim Crow was law in the south. You know?

Dave Wolkins
Mon, 06/12/2006 - 6:20pm

Don't count Ms Kelo out yet. I had lunch with her this past Saturday at the Castle Coalition's 2006 Eminent Domain conference in Wahington. She's not throwing in the towel yet. She is a bright red-headed lady not ready to throw in the towell. Stay tuned.

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