While I don’t necessarily agree with your political sentiments as expressed in your blog, many of your points are well-taken, and I’m glad to see that you took the time to write to your Senators.

Thanks for reading, and thanks for your contribution.

Eric

Splitting 5-4, the Supreme Court ruled on Thursday that a local government may seize private property for purposes of profit-making private re-development, declaring that this constitutes a “public use” under the Constitution. (Kelo v. New London, 04-108).

While the opinion by Justice John Paul Stevens said that a local government could not take homeowners’ property “simply to confer a private benefit on a particular private party,” the New London. Conn., project involved in this case was “a carefully considered development plan.” While the resulting project would not be open for use by the general public, the Court said, there is no literal requirement of that outcome.

Reading the constitutional phrase “public use” in an expansive way, the Court majority declared: “For more than a century, our public use jurisprudence has wisely eschewed rigid formulas and intrusive scrutiny in favor of affording legislatures broad latitude in determining what public needs justify the use of the takigs power.”e

The Court commented: “Those who govern the city [of New London] were not confronted with the need to remove blight…, but their determination that the area was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to our deference….Clearly, there is no basis for exempting economic development from our traditionally broad understanding of public purpose.”

Eric, I fully understand your concerns regarding the preservation of ACW battle sites. I frear though it will be a costly operation to stop the tide of economic development.

The problem with this case is that it runs counter to some of the most important underpinnings of U. S. society–that private property and private property rights are paramount. And therein lies the problem.

Eric

It’s not quite my field, but the best way of preservation here is the status of national park. Alas, when economics get in the way that doesn’t help either as the example of the ‘Waddenzee’, one of the last intact wetlands in the world, -where a permit has been given to drill for oil and gas-shows.