States Trying to Blunt Property Ruling -Yahoo

[Fire Walk With Me]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050719/ap_on_re_us/seizing_property

By MAURA KELLY LANNAN, Associated Press Writer
2 hours, 33 minutes ago

CHICAGO - Alarmed by the prospect of local governments seizing homes and turning the property over to developers, lawmakers in at least half the states are rushing to blunt last month's U.S. Supreme Court ruling expanding the power of eminent domain.

In Texas and California, legislators have proposed constitutional amendments to bar government from taking private property for economic development. Politicians in Alabama, South Dakota and Virginia likewise hope to curtail government's ability to condemn land.

"People I've never heard from before came out of the woodwork and were just so agitated," said Illinois state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Democrat. "People feel that it's a threat to their personal property, and that has hit a chord."

[Sandpiper]

1. Self delete

[HereSince1628]

2. Outsource jobs, take away yer lands...its good times for corporations

and provide opportunities to shelter the profits tax-free outside the US.

Folks ought to read Jared Diamond's _Collapse_ and contemplate just what sort of risks we are setting up for ourselves.

[indepat]

3. Comforting since almost all property can eventually be put to a higher and

better use (generate higher property taxes). Will go down in history as among one of the worst and most cockeyed decisions ever by the Supreme Court IMHO.

[niallmac]

4. I don't usually consort with you liberal types but...

Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random, The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms...well, that's just my opinion.
Love and Kisses you crazy DUers
Sandra Day O'Connor

[NawlinsNed]

5. As much as I hate to say it...

... New Orleans would benefit immensely from developer takeovers in the short term. There are gigantic tracts of neighborhoods which are blighted as all hell, but the homes are still worth well over 200K a pop (the lots themselves are worth that much, and the average 1800 sq. foot house in decent neighborhoods in surrounding parishes is under 200K). Better to let a developer purchase the property, give the people their money so they can move to one of the surrounding parishes in a nice home, and build condos and townhouses so that all those folks with degrees and educations can come back and populate the city again.

Like I said, I disagree with the ruling in principle, but it would help out New Orleans in the long run. More middle and upper class residents = more money for schools and roads, and the surrounding parishes' school districts are knee deep in cash anyway.

[earth mom]

6. If people wanted to cash in their property maybe they would do so

perhaps they enjoy living where they do and don't care for yuppies to come in and take over and pretty much ruin the charm of the place. That's the problem with WAY too many people in this country, everything must be torn down to make way for people who are better off.

Who are developers or anyone to say where someone should live and how they live? :eyes:

[Viking12]

7. Add Wisconsin to that list

AG Peg Lautenschlager (D) was on the radio yesterday discussing the need to establish tighter control on eminent domain rules in WI. I hope she can do it.