Recent Supreme Court Rulings

[Happy Monkey]

For once I'm with Scalia and Thomas...

[richlevy]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

For once I'm with Scalia and Thomas...

When I first saw the report on Yahoo I thought the same thing. This is a developer's wet dream.

The justices said that under the 5th Amendment, property could be taken -

Amendment V
nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

However, the definition of 'public' can be stretched. This isn't just a new issue. Most of the 'superblocks' in Manhattan are built on condemned buildings, and the new buildings are private property.

At least eight states — Arkansas, Florida, Illinois, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, South Carolina and Washington — forbid the use of eminent domain for economic development unless it is to eliminate blight. Other states either expressly allow a taking for private economic purposes or have not spoken clearly to the question.

Well, now we know where to move to.

[cjjulie]

Originally Posted by Happy Monkey

For once I'm with Scalia and Thomas...

so your saying if your family, along with many other families on the street, owned a nice but small piece of property across the street from the water and a developer came along and proposed to the town that he wanted to build high end condominiums and upscale shops where the houses are standing and have been handed down for generations, you would say that was fair???? Just so the town could make more tax revenue (or is the trickle down theory, you pay me, I pay him, he pays her, it goes through, the 3 of us get rich what do we care)