Property rights issues are once again on the minds of many
Americans as we mark the first anniversary of the Supreme
Court's now infamous 5-4 Kelo v. City of New London eminent
domain decision. The decision affirmed the ability of
governments to forcibly take private property for "public
purposes," even if those purposes serve fairly narrow private
interests. The decision sparked outrage among many Americans,
who viewed the process of taking land from one private party and
giving it to another, even with "just compensation," to be
fundamentally unfair and an abuse of government power. Opinion
polls have shown opposition to the use of eminent domain for
economic development ranging from 70 percent to over 90 percent.
This spawned a healthy revolt against abusive land seizures by
governments across the nation. Over the past year, at least 325
measures in 47 states have been proposed to protect against
eminent domain abuses at the state level. In California alone,
there have been 87 bills and several ballot init