Property rights

There has been a case before the Supreme Court regarding property rights, and the right of the government to force people to sell their land in the name of public good. The case was brought by several homeowners in New London, Connecticut because the city was trying to make them sell their homes because the property is needed for a PRIVATE development project. Just to make that clear; it wasn’t for a school, highway or hospital. The city wanted to give the land to a private developer to build an office complex.

Today, the Court returned a verdict that was 5-4 in favor of the city. Now it’s legal for local governments to take land if they feel that the private development that will ensue will be ‘for the public good’. This is going to have a huge impact on the local level; for those of you that live near me, just look at the whole Island Crossing rezone issue. I’m no legal scholar, but it only takes common sense to see the potential for corruption in taking land for private development as long as it’s ‘in the public’s best interest’.

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