Supreme Court Ruling — A Dark Day for U.S. Property Owners

Associated Press
Published June 23 2005
By The Associated Press

A deeply divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled Thursday that government agencies may sieze land from private owners and give it to private developers to spur economic development.

“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.” – Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, writing in dissent.

By Harvey Tobkes — author of this Web site:

Here is the exact wording of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, which reads, ‘nor shall private property be taken for public use , without just compensation.”

Didn’t the Supreme Court Justices read the words “for public use”?

O.K. a government agency needs your property for a school, a highway, a hospital; take my property and pay me fair value, but to rule that they can take property for private use under conditions that benefit the public — give me a break! That’s plain double-talk and they are using a “pretzel bender” to benefit corporations that can bulldoze a home that has been in your family for 100 years; then private developers can build any complex or project that pleases them.

I say it’s a travesty of justice that must be reversed quickly..