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Private ownership of property is vital to both our freedom and our prosperity. Last week, the Supreme Court issued a narrow 5-4 decision giving local governments broad power to seize private property from one private party and give it to another private party. Through their decision, the Court essentially erased any protection of private property as understood by our Founders. This appalling decision strikes a serious blow to the core values of our Nation. I have received many calls and letters from constituents around my district who share my outrage at this decision.
Last week the House of Representatives passed a resolution (H. Res. 340) that expresses the grave disapproval of the House regarding the majority opinion of the Supreme Court in the case of Kelo et al. v. City of New London et al. This resolution stated that the Supreme Court decision nullifies the protections afforded to private property owners in the takings clause of the Fifth Amendment. The takings clause of the Fifth Amendment states, “nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
The narrow 5-4 decision overrules two centuries of legal precedent and tradition regarding the "public use" provision of the Fifth Amendment’s taking clause. With this decision, the Court moved to give local governments broad power to seize property to generate tax revenue. It allows state and local governments to use eminent domain to take away the property of any individual for nearly any reason, including taking property for the benefit of another individual or corporation. Because of the Court’s decision, cities may now level private citizens’ homes to make way for shopping malls or other developments. Unfortunately, under this decision no citizen’s property is safe.
The Court’s decision is dangerous and has far reaching implications. Justice Thomas said, “Something has gone seriously awry with this Court’s interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not…The consequences of today’s decision are not difficult to predict, and promise to be harmful.”
Many groups stated their outrage by filing amicus briefs that disagreed with the Supreme Court’s decision include the NAACP, AARP, religious organizations, and the American Farm Bureau. The brief filed by the American Farm Bureau Federation stated, "The farmer and rancher members of amici curiae own and lease significant amounts of land on which they depend for their livelihoods and upon which all Americans rely for food and other basic necessities. As valuable as that land is to our members and to the rest of the country, however, it will often be the case that more intense development by other private individuals or entities for other private purposes would yield greater tax revenue to local government. Thus, each of our members is threatened by the decision below with the loss of productive farm and ranch land solely to allow someone else to put it to a different private use - unless the decision below is reversed ..."
The Supreme Court decision concerning eminent domain goes against the obvious intentions of our Founding Fathers. In the words of Thomas Jefferson, “A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take way everything you have.” |
