-Caveat Lector- [Note: Abuses of eminent domain are just on of numerous examples of how corrupt government will, not perhaps but will, become if not strictly controlled. - Tony] Monday, July 30, 2001 Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal EDITORIAL: 'Unconstitutional taking' Courts across the country moving to curb abuse of eminent domain http://www.lvrj.com/lvrj_home/2001/Jul-30-Mon-2001/opinion/16636514.html Finally, a number of courts around the country are starting to set limits on the municipal use of eminent domain to favor one private property owner over another. Eminent domain, of course, is supposed to be used to seize private property (subject to payment of full compensation) only in the case of a true "public use" -- for roads and firehouses, things like that. Las Vegas has its own examples of abuse of this authority, as when private property downtown was seized and turned over to new private owners -- the Fremont Street Experience -- under the now-debunked theory that this was justified by redevelopment statutes. (The courts found the statutes actually require that land owners such as Carol Pappas be allowed to submit alternative redevelopment plans, and to participate in redevelopment projects through ground leases. The courts ruled the city broke its own law and must return the property. The case is on appeal.) But in an encouraging trend, a federal judge in Manhattan recently blocked the city of Port Chester, N.Y., from condemning rental property and turning it over to a grocery store for use as a parking lot. And the Mississippi Supreme Court in May blocked condemnation of a huge tract of land to make way for a Nissan Motor Co. plant, holding authorities there appeared to be taking land "substantially in excess of the immediate needs of public use." "What you're seeing is courts finally setting some limits to the exercise of eminent domain," David L. Callies, a professor of property and land-use law at the University of Hawaii law school told The Wall Street Journal last week. The recent rulings "mean that what was once an unquestioned power is now in doubt -- a change that could affect the thousands of takings cases filed around the country each year, particularly those related to redevelopment," reports the Journal. In Lancaster, Calif., a city of some 130,000 about 45 miles from Los Angeles, city officials appeared dumbfounded when the courts permanently blocked their action in condemning a 99 Cents Only Store to make room for the expansion of the discounter's bitter rival and next-door neighbor, Costco Wholesale. Costco demanded the city shut down the new competitor and turn the space over to it for an expansion "almost immediately" after the 99 Cents Only Store opened, U.S. District Court Judge Steven V. Wilson found. When Costco threatened to close down and move to nearby Palmdale, the city obliged its major tenant, voting in June 2000 to condemn the 99 Cents Only site. Their justification? The area had been declared "blighted" back in 1983, before the shopping center opened. But Judge Wilson dismissed the city's contention that it was seeking to block "future blight" which might occur should Costco pull up stakes, instead ruling: "The evidence is clear beyond dispute that Lancaster's condemnation efforts rest on nothing more than the desire to achieve the naked transfer from one private party to another. Such conduct amounts to an unconstitutional taking purely for private purposes." "It's a troubling trend," grumbled Lancaster city attorney David McEwan. "I don't know where the courts are going with it. 99 Cents produced less than $40,000 (a year) in sales taxes, and Costco was producing more than $400,000. You tell me which was more important." Actually, what's more important, Mr. McEwan, is the proud tradition of private property ownership on which this nation's freedom and prosperity was built. If we can't depend on government to defend those property rights -- if our land can be seized the first time a fatter cat casts a covetous eye upon it -- then where's the incentive for anyone to save, invest, maintain a property and pay taxes on it? If you want to see what a country looks like when the politicians can seize and reassign ownership of anything they want to their most powerful backers, go take a tour of elegant and charming Smolensk. [Forwarded For Information Purposes Only - Not Necessarily Endorsed By The Sender - A.K. Pritchard] ------------------------------ A.K. Pritchard http://members.ll.net/chiliast/ To subscribe to "The Republican" email list - just ask! [EMAIL PROTECTED] Three groups spend other people's money: children, thieves, politicians. All three need supervision. -Dick Armey (R-Texas) The Freedom Revolution (Regency) <A HREF="http://www.ctrl.org/";>www.ctrl.org</A> DECLARATION & DISCLAIMER ========== CTRL is a discussion & informational exchange list. 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