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October 23, 2005

Miers got windfall in land deal

Knight Ridder via Star-Telegram
by Jack Douglas Jr. and Stephen Henderson

This article should wake up property rights advocates:

Supreme Court nominee Harriet Miers collected more than 10 times the market value for a small slice of family-owned land in a large Superfund pollution cleanup site in Dallas where the state wanted to build a highway off-ramp.

Mediation efforts in 2003 reduced the award from $106,915 to $80,915, but Miers, who controls the family's interest in the land, hasn't reimbursed the state for the $26,000 difference, even after Bush appointed her to the Supreme Court.

Though not typical of eminent domain cases, once again the politically connected are the beneficiaries of government takings. There's also a connection between Miers's lawfirm, and the judge that made appointments to the panel that determined condemnation payouts.

Can Americans come to any conclusion about Miers's views on eminent domain from this one case? Or, is she merely the worst kind of crony who will make a mockery of the bench?

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NoLandGrab: Too bad DDDb spokesperson "Danny Boy" Goldstein doesn't know "Dubya," he coulda made bank.

Posted by lumi at October 23, 2005 10:26 AM