-Caveat Lector- ------- Forwarded message follows ------- July 23, 2001 Refusing to Let Go, Property Owners Test Eminent Domain's Limits By LAURA MANSNERUS NEW LONDON, Conn., July 19 ‹ The owners of the last houses amid the scarred and weedy lots of Fort Trumbull ask only to stay there while the city of New London realizes its dream of office buildings, apartment clusters and other upscale development rising in their neighborhood. But when the seven property owners go to Superior Court here Monday, they will challenge a larger practice that needy cities everywhere have latched on to: using the power of eminent domain, or condemnation, to force property owners to turn over their land to private developers. Such redevelopment projects promise jobs and tax revenue in places, like New London, where private investors are hard to find. And that reasoning has generally satisfied courts that are asked to decide whether displacing one private property owner on behalf of another would, as the Constitution requires, serve a "public use." But the New London case poses the question of whether this principle has any limits. And Matt Dery, whose family has owned houses in the old Italian-American neighborhood of Fort Trumbull since 1901, thinks it does. Mr. Dery acknowledged the sad condition of his city, the fourth poorest in Connecticut. But he asked: "Anybody who can make more money gets the property? I don't think that's what the founding fathers had in mind." Full story at: http://www.nytimes.com/2001/07/23/nyregion/23SEIZ.html ------- End of forwarded message ------- -- Best Wishes Free institutions are not the property of any majority. They do not confer upon majorities unlimited powers. The rights of the majority are limited rights. They are limited not only by the constitutional guarantees but by the moral principle implied in those guarantees. That principle is that men may not use the facilities of liberty to impair them. No man may invoke a right in order to destroy it. - Walter Lippmann <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/">www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. Proselytizing propagandic screeds are unwelcomed. Substance—not soap-boxing—please! These are sordid matters and 'conspiracy theory'—with its many half-truths, mis- directions and outright frauds—is used politically by different groups with major and minor effects spread throughout the spectrum of time and thought. That being said, CTRLgives no endorsement to the validity of posts, and always suggests to readers; be wary of what you read. CTRL gives no credence to Holocaust denial and nazi's need not apply. Let us please be civil and as always, Caveat Lector. ======================================================================== Archives Available at: http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html <A HREF="http://peach.ease.lsoft.com/archives/ctrl.html">Archives of [EMAIL PROTECTED]</A> http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/ <A HREF="http:[EMAIL PROTECTED]/">ctrl</A> ======================================================================== To subscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SUBSCRIBE CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] To UNsubscribe to Conspiracy Theory Research List[CTRL] send email: SIGNOFF CTRL [to:] [EMAIL PROTECTED] Om