Remember Kelo v. City of New London, the notorious (and puzzling) decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that defined the circumstances in which eminent domain can be used to take private property, specifically to include cases where the only “public good” is increased tax base for the government concerned?
Well, it's back in the news. After the Kelo decision, the city of New London did in fact condemn the affected property, and bulldozed the houses. Then the original developer who wanted the land backed out. Now the city has announced plans to build townhouses on the condemned property. So this entire affair in the precipitating case has come to naught: the city's revenue is essentially unchanged, and the citizens lives were disrupted for no reason.
How sad. And how very un-American. I'm still angry about Kelo, years later...
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