OK, for those who haven't followed the link to the Post story yet, quick, guess which Justices were on the side of the local gov't/developers! Scalia, Thomas, Rehnquist, etc., the 'Republican' justices who are all about protecting states' rights (except in Florida during an election year)? Wrong! Those 3, plus O'Connor, were the dissenters in the 5-4 vote. The more liberal judges sided with usually-wealthy developers and potentially greedy (not to mention potentially corrupt) local governments. Say what you want about the Court, at least they're not predictable.
Justice O'Coonor summed it up well at the end of her dissenting opinion:
...the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result. "[T]hat alone is a just government," wrote James Madison, "which impartially secures to every man, whatever is his own."
3 comments:
It's strange what random comments you can get from complete strangers. This person 'Crew Koos' from France posted a comment that simply said, "I wouldn't be so definitive." Huh? It annoyed me not because it was criticism of the post, but that if you're going to post, post something that actually makes an argument or provides some contribution.
Anyway, I tested the 'delete comment' feature, and it seems to work just fine!
I saw that ruling and was terribly confused by it, not to mention a little dismayed. As a new property owner, I'd be quite peeved if I could be uprooted at any time, just because somebody can make money somewhere. Grrr.
Fully willing to admit that our "liberal judges" have just horked a big one.
Lis
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