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November 29, 2009
It came from the Blogosphere...
Below are some examples of the outrage generated by last Tuesday's ruling by the New York State Appellate Court.
Tracy Walters Blog, Another blow to private property rights
Yes, you read that right. Ratner will be partially financing the private venture on government-seized land with a tax-exempt bond issue, placing the basketball arena on equal cost of capital footing with public road projects, school construction, public utility projects and ...well you get the picture.
The 60-page decision, which can be read here, hinged on the determination that the Atlanta Yards real estate in question was blighted. The Atlantic Yards Report blog uses a quote by libertarian law professor Ilya Somin to expose the shaky foundation of this decision:
To get around this problem, the Court held that “blight” alleviation is not limited to “‘slums’ as that term was formerly applied, and that, among other things, economic underdevelopment and stagnation are also threats to the public sufficient to make their removal cognizable as a public purpose” (pp. 15–16, quoting a 1975 decision).
Obviously, virtually any area occasionally suffers from “economic underdevelopment” or “stagnation” and therefore could potentially be condemned under this rationale. Moreover, even under this expansive definition of blight, the decision states that courts can only strike down a condemnation if “there is no room for reasonable difference of opinion as to whether an area is blighted.” With respect to any neighborhood, there is nearly always “room for reasonable difference of opinion” as to whether the area is “underdeveloped” relative to some possible alternative uses of the land in question. Defining blight this broadly and then deferring to the government’s determination of whether such “blight” actually exists effectively reads the public use restriction out of the state constitution. (emphasis mine)
The public use restriction of the New York eminent domain statute is easily circumvented by the determination that the real estate in question is "blighted" and therefore presents a hazard or nuisance to the public.
If this flimsy justification for government seizure of private property becomes the uncontested law of the land, we can certainly expect exponential increases in such seizures during times of economic recession, high residential and commercial foreclosure rates, and high unemployment. Like we have now.
Viewpoints of a Sagittarian, New York State Rules in Favor of Bloomberg/ACORN Buddy on Atlantic Rail Yards Project – Eminent Domain – Brooklynites to Lose Their Homes, Businesses and Jobs
Bloomberg from day one supported Ratner, his real estate buddy, in his quest to evict tens of thousands of Brooklynites from their homes and businesses in order to make way for a new development that would include a stadium for the New Jersey Nets.
During the past several years, Brooklynites in an effort to keep their homes, jobs and businesses were at odds with the government, Bloomberg, Ratner and anyone else who supported this development. Some businesses and homeowners took the deals offered while others chose to stay put.
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Furthermore, this ruling and project is another example that the government is disconnected. Earlier this week, sold out by its government, Americans lost a major battle to corporate interests and big money.
The Proud Profiteer, Imminent Domain
If you truly think there are property rights left in America, you sure must have your head firmly in ground or up your a**. Here is the most recent example of the government taking property from the little guy to give it to their rich buddies. Oh yeah, and these just so happen to be liberals, who claim the love the poor and the down trodden.
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Not only does the government take your property whenever it feels like, for whatever reason it feels like, try to not pay your property taxes and see if you really own your property. Property taxes have turned us all into renters. You have to pay the local government your yearly rental fee, which they raise periodically just like all landlords. If you don’t pay, they evict you and take back the property. Then they sell the property to some one else who is under the illusion that they own the property.
So, basically you only have “rights” to the property until the government decides you no longer have the right. You can fool yourself all you want, but really eminent domain has turned into imminent domain.
Posted by steve at November 29, 2009 8:45 AM