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The Master Of Eminent Domain

On June 22, the Pacific Legal Foundation entered the blogosphere. The launch of the group's blog, PLF on Eminent Domain, was the perfect end to a year marked by keen public interest in a legal doctrine that guarantees governments the right to "take" private property for public use.

The year started June 23, 2005, when the Supreme Court issued a 5-4 ruling in Kelo v. New London. The case pitted the city of New London, Conn., against homeowner Susette Kelo and her neighbors. The city used the power of eminent domain to condemn and then buy their properties in order to redevelop them, and the Supreme Court concluded that the seizure was constitutional.

The decision triggered a wave of public outrage that manifested itself in opinion polls, media commentary, legal analysis and online rants.

Kelo has been in the news again lately, as President Bush in June signed an executive order on eminent domain. Critics of the ruling also marked its anniversary with protests and continue to ponder their next steps to protect their private property. Blogs are part of that equation.

It took the Kelo decision to really get bloggers engaged on the issue. Eminent Domain Watch was created before then, but founder Alan Krigman said he never found either other blogs or conventional Web sites dedicated to eminent domain until Kelo.

"We started [in 2004] at the time that the Michigan Supreme Court reversed itself on the Poletown decision," Krigman said. "It was my intuition that this would start the dominoes falling. Had Kelo not been heard by the [Supreme Court], I believe the Michigan reversal would have triggered at least some action."

Kelo was heard, though, and the court's decision became a rallying cry for bloggers. The topic even grabbed the interest of at least one lawmaker, Republican Rep. Mark Steven Kirk of Illinois, who posted two blog entries at his congressional site.

"Judging by my e-mail and the reactions I've seen around the blogosphere," Instapundit Glenn Reynolds wrote at the time, "I think the political impact of this decision is going to be very large."

A year later, law professor Stephen Bainbridge, who blogs at ProfessorBainbridge, explained the anger of so many bloggers in an interview. "What could be a more quintessential example of how gross government power has become than the idea that the government can take your home away from you and then turn around and it give it to some real-estate developer just because the latter will pay higher taxes than you do?" he said. "Ever hear the expression 'your home is your castle'? Not anymore."

The outcry over Kelo prompted state legislative activity designed to counteract the ruling, but not all of the news has been good for activists who complain of eminent domain abuse. Most recently, Iowa Democratic Gov. Tom Vilsack vetoed an eminent domain bill. He is still wrangling with state lawmakers over the issue in special session.

Eminent Domain Watch's Krigman does not believe bloggers have had any noticeable impact in the ongoing national debate. While he said "blogs have proven to be very effective in exposing issues that the press has missed," he argued that they do not "deserve all that much credit in this particular area."

One reason is that the mainstream media, with their much wider audiences, have been actively engaged. "An astonishing number of papers have editorialized about this issue," Krigman said.

But some bloggers remain vigilant, and their next battleground will be the campaign trail this fall. One measure, the Protect Our Homes initiative, will be on the November ballot in California, and it is considered stronger than a ballot measure approved in Oregon last year. Out of Control, a blog of the Reason Foundation, gave the California effort a plug last month.

Beyond ballot measures, Pejman Yousefzadeh, a lawyer and contributor at RedState, said the best way to make politicians think twice about abusing eminent domain is to make it personal by taking the case to voters. Blogs should be a part of that strategy, he said.

The Castle Coalition, an activist outlet started by the Institute for Justice after the Kelo decision, is doing its part to help. The tips in the coalition's "Eminent Domain Abuse Survival Guide" for grassroots activism include creating a Web site, and the guide mentions the free space at Blogger.com as one option.

"Increased journalistic coverage, increased blogospheric coverage and increased attention paid to the issue by the legal community -- including the legal punditry class -- will help elevate the issue in the public consciousness," Yousefzadeh wrote at TCS Daily. The key is to make "anti-eminent domain abuse forces as politically powerful as the developers and their related interest groups are."

That's exactly what groups like the Save Ardmore Coalition, which is focused on protecting private property in a Philadelphia suburb, hope to accomplish with their blog. "Blogs help get the word out -- fast," one member of the group said anonymously via e-mail. "Blogs are today what television was like when it first started: It brings the issue home with easy access and makes it personal."

Tom Blumer, who covered the New London case at BizzyBlog, said local activity in the blogosphere is precisely what can make a difference in the long run.

"If the blogs could do anything to try to keep momentum going," he said, "it would be to have individual bloggers take personal responsibility for reporting any and all meaningful developments in individual cases (and perhaps having a collective 'eminent domain alliance' blog for all related/cross-posted entries)."

Posted by Danny | 07:07 AM

Comments

This issue reminds me of the whole flag burning debate on the Right. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XPxln9ceOPo

Jo-Lee | 07.18.06 09:25 AM

Oops sorry -- that was the wrong link. That was for the minimum wage debate. This is for flag burning. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lJ1GTXO0U14&mode=related&search=

Jo-Lee | 07.18.06 09:27 AM

many claim this is an example of the federal government stepping on your rights... when it is the state governments that are doing and have been doing this since at least the 1950s

embutler | 07.18.06 09:58 AM

Tom Vilsack's veto of anti-Kelo legislation was overridden on Friday, July 14th. Various Iowa-centric blogs were all over it, including recently-created blogs by employees of media companies.

State 29 | 07.18.06 10:55 AM

Each jurisdiction will/is doing small takings. This will build up precedent and the populace will be shocked when they find they have Kelo and History against them. Look to Oregon and watch as the govt finds ways to strip property rights from citizens.

Andy | 07.18.06 10:55 AM

A petition to amend the Constitution can be found here.

http://www.petitiononline.com/Property/petition.html

Stephen Macklin | 07.18.06 01:05 PM

While I would greatly prefer a constitutional prohibition on this sort of taking, another approach would be to rethink the compensation angle. Normally, private property is taken for roads, schools etc. and the compensation is based on property appraisal.

If the property is taken for a private -for profit- venture, the property owner should be compensated by a stake in the venture, perhaps unrisked -since it wasn't voluntary on his part.

If the government involuntarily takes my property to let you build your hotel so that you can profit and they can get more tax revenue, then I deserve part of that profit in addition to the price of my property. You have deprived me of the opportunity value as well as of the property.

Doug Collins | 07.18.06 01:37 PM

THANKS!

sac | 07.18.06 07:40 PM

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