New Eminent Domain battle: Using 'Kelo' powers to seize Mortgages!
You'll remember the tremendous uproar when the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the ability of a government to seize private property not for some broad public project, such as a highway, but for a private interest promising a greater payback.
It was the famous case, Kelo vs. City of New London (Connecticut). As it turned out, even after all the hubbub, that pharmaceutical company in New London never completed the project after razing the land.
Wilmington saw a similar battle as the city targeted an auto repair shop.
Now, some California jurisdictions are considering applying the logic of 'Kelo' to seize mortgages.
The eminent domain debate is always interesting because people don't always divide among right/left lines. For example, here at WDEL, both Rick Jensen and Al Masciti opposed the Kelo decision, and defended auto repair shop owner Ed Osborne against the City of Wilmington.
While one can abhor cities and other local jurisdictions invoking eminent domain powers for something supposedly more lucrative, it's easy to understand the temptation: Cash-strapped cities - often with disproportionate numbers of poor people (and the resulting higher crime) and elderly residents - are starved for revenue. Raising taxes will only drive more wealthier people out. And many Northern cities are constrained from annexing additional territory, either because they're physically boxed-in by incorporated suburbs, or constrained by state law (Wilmington). Result: Red-light cameras, aggressive traffic & parking enforcement (the latter, of which, got Wilmington into so much trouble!), raising fees, AND - when unchecked - aggressive use of eminent domain powers.
Anyway, HUMAN EVENTS has a comprehensive analysis of the movement in California to use Kelo powers to seize mortgages...
Some liberals / progressives who favor the President's health-care overhaul may differ with HUMAN EVENTS lumping the Affordable Care Act and Kelo together.
Posted at 6:07am on July 10, 2012 by Allan Loudell
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