This Land was Your Land

I blog about third party political reform on another site. Yesterday, I noticed that a new political party seems to have been formed in New London, CT. Ridding the people of New London of the city council which imposed the eminent domain case which still has a good portion of the once-free world pissed off seems to be the driving force of One New London and it’s five declared candidates.

Tom from MuD & PHuD has been covering the One New London story. He commented on my entry from yesterday, which led me back to his site, where I found this news from Kelo v. New London victim Michael Cristofaro:

NLDC has hit a new low. They have decided to ignore the Governors morotorium and have sent out letters stating we need to vacate the property’s in 90 days(Dec. 8th) and we must send them starting Sept 1st. $600/month for rent. There are more stipulations but this is the jist of it. I’ve contacted 2 of the councilors tonight to see where they stand on the issue and if they were even aware of this new tactic. I will let you know what their remarks are if they ever call me back.

In a WorldNetDaily exclusive, Joseph Farah (I borrowed from his heading) (Rick, thanks for the link) also just wrote about this new break in the story. Here is a clip:

He [Cristofaro] said the city officials are apparently persuaded the Supreme Court ruling last June is all they need to proceed with their plans to transfer the properties to a private party for development of an office complex.

Cristofaro said he has attempted to contact two members of the city council to see if they are aware of the plans and approve of them.

In the highly controversial Supreme Court decision, the justices ruled 5-4 that the economic development and increased tax revenue resulting from the eminent domain action qualified as “public use” under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

We wish Cristafaro and gang the best of luck in CT, as what happens there helps sets the stage for the rest of the country. From New Orleans to New London, the terms “freedom” and “private property” are becoming increasingly oxymoronic with each passing day.

posted Sep 13th, 2005 by Stephen Gordon

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  • http://www.opentorrent.org Stop Hurting America

    How much money is going into city council pockets!? This is crime. Perhaps we should look to the feds… afterall they are great at going after citizens aren’t they!?

    Everyone who can should send a contact to the Governor and make certain he is looking into this matter! I’ll do my part… ;-)

  • http://www.stophurtingamerica.com Stop Hurting America

    Eminent Domain was never intended to give a private entity sovereign right to land owned by a private citizen.

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  • rickrajter

    Here’s another good link
    http://disc.server.com/discussion.cgi?disc=149495;article=91221;title=APFN

    remember, churches make for horrible property taxes. A nice mall would generate far more revenue.

    Religious or not, this should be worrisome for everyone.

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  • http://nomayo.mu.nu Stephen Macklin

    The Open Source Amendment Project began in response to the Supreme Court decision in the case Kelo v. New London. The Supreme Court ruled in a 5 – 4 decision that the City of New London, CT could take several properties under eminent domain making the actions goal of increasing tax revenue a Constitutionally valid public use under the Fifth Amendment.

    The Project began with a draught amendment posted to the weblog Hold The Mayo (www.nomayo.mu.nu) by its author Stephen R. Macklin. The Project then actively sought input from other bloggers interested in protecting property rights. “There are a lot of very smart people on the internet and writing weblogs,” Macklin said. “If that intellectual power can be harnessed we can craft an amendment that will address the damage done to property rights by the Supreme Court in the Kelo decision.”

    After much debate via weblog comments at Hold The Mayo and other weblogs, and numerous revisions, The Open Source Amendment Project has released its final amendment and a petition to Congress to amend the Constitution.

    To:
    The President of the United States.
    The Vice President of The United States
    The Members of the United States Senate
    The Members of the United States House of Representatives
    The Members of the United States Supreme Court

    In the Declaration of Independence the founders of this great nation wrote, “That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” They also built into the structure of our government a process by which we the people can seek to change the nature and function of our government without abolishing it and beginning again.

    We the undersigned agree with our founders that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and feel that our government has exceeded the bounds of that consent. We believe that the recent decision of the Supreme Court regarding the exercise of eminent domain was reached with complete disregard for the plain language of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

    We the people therefore ask that the Constitution of the United States be amended to include the following language:
    The right to ownership of property being the cornerstone of liberty, no government, or agency thereof, within these United States shall have the authority to take property from any person, corporation, or organization through exercise of eminent domain for other than a public use without just compensation.
    Public use shall be understood to be property the government owns or retains the paramount interest in, and the public has a legal right to use. Public use shall be understood to include property the government owns and maintains as a secure facility. Public use shall not be construed to include economic development or increased tax revenue. Public use of such property shall be maintained for a period of not less than 25 years.
    Just compensation shall be the higher of twice the average of the price paid for similar property in the preceding six months, or twice the average of the previous 10 recorded similar property transactions. Compensation paid shall be exempt from taxation in any form by any government within these United States.

    The Open Source Amendment Project hopes to generate support across the internet to get the amendment to congress. The petition is available online at http://www.petitiononline.com/Property/petition.html

    “The process of amending the Constitution is difficult. As it should be. The first hurdle is getting the amendment before Congress. If enough people get behind the effort we should be able to get someone to listen,” Macklin said. “There are 535 elected members of congress. I hope there is at least one with and interest in preserving the property rights of individuals.

    Stephen Macklin is an independent, unpaid, writer of social and political commentary. He can be reached for further comment at blogmail@optonline.net.

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