azurelunatic | What. The. Fuck. Eminent domain for a shopping mall?

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What. The. Fuck. Eminent domain for a shopping mall?

http://www.cnn.com/2005/LAW/06/23/scotus.property.ap/index.html

Locals, when should we hit the streets? I'm good mornings, weekend evenings, and Mon-Weds.

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I posted about this in my journal. I haven't read the decision, but the 5th Amendment specifies "public use". How in the world could they construe an office building with a clear PRIVATE use to be a "public use" is beyond me.

This is a scary precedent.

Dammit. this has implications here in the wee little strip mall of a town i currently reside in.

the voters here, being stupid as people often are, voted to have the Cowboys move in. for some ass-headed reason, they did this despite the fact that it means Arlington will split the bill with Jones, so that he can make more money. cuz, yeah, i so want to pay taxes just to help a billionaire make billions more.

i am sooo unthrilled with the idea that *privately* owned enterprises can claim eminent domain at all. this is just asinine.

Now if we could just make it work both ways. Have a citizen or a group of private citizens claim eminent domain over a Walmart, saying that all that land for a big box store would be better off as low-cost housing, a park, a school, or anything, really, besides a business that tends to syphon more money out of a community than it puts in.

(I know it doesn't work that way, but it's a nice fantasy.)

... Now.

That's a beautiful idea.

And you'd make it work in a small town, where the number of interested, pissed-off private citizens are enough to bring the matter to a vote. Legally.

Their justification, essentially, is that it'll provide far more tax revenue (with the implication that the additional revenues will be spent on Important Public Services).

And yes, it's essentially a precedent allowing Enron et al. to legally take your property against your will by merely paying off a few local (read "inexpensive") politicos.

*giggles evilly*

I. Don't. Like. This. Precedent.

Me. Nerfbat. Bush.
Me. Nerfbat. Select members of the Supreme Court.

Very scary. I'm not so sure I can even laugh about Dad taking eminent domain of my dessert when I was a kid anymore.

Ewww?

Aside from which, at least in my mid-sized suburb that's a fallacy: the city gets most of its money from property taxes. Add in that homes gain value and most retail sites lose it as time passes, and it leaves me with a big dose of vitaming WTF. But as Molly Ivins said, the only real difference between the locals and the Feds is that it costs more to buy the Feds.

Let the Force be with you.

And with you also.

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