BIG NEWS: Federal Court Halts Shocking Property Rights Abuse
by Bob EwingYou really have to see this one to believe it:
The video above was just released by the Institute for Justice. It begins with an elderly woman lamenting:
When my son came back from Kuwait he couldn’t believe it. He said, “Mom, what’s going on?” And I said, well they want to get rid of us and they’re finally doing it. He was upset. He said, “I’m sorry, I’m halfway around the world to help other people and I can’t even help my own mom keep her own home.”
For the past ten years, township officials in Mount Holly have been destroying a close-knit community called the Gardens. They’ve been recklessly bulldozing select individual row-houses — even when they are attached to occupied homes — to make way for fancier homes for richer people. The current owners have never been offered a place in the new redevelopment, or enough money to buy comparable home nearby.
A new Institute for Justice study, available here, shows that this redevelopment project may result in a loss of one million dollars every year, one tenth of the township’s budget.
Despite these terrible conditions, the community never gave up hope. They continued to fight against all odds for their cherished neighborhood. And on Wednesday, a federal court came to their defense.
The Third Circuit issued a ruling that prohibits the city from moving forward with eminent domain against the homeowners involved in the lawsuit until they have a chance to let their voice be heard in court. The ruling likely means that the neighborhood has another year to fight for and save their community.
Without this ruling, the neighborhood would have likely been completely destroyed before the end of the month.
Activism expert Christina Walsh of the Institute for Justice has been working with the homeowners in their grassroots fight. They launched a major billboard campaign (see above), generated positive local media coverage, ran full-page ads, held events, and more. Christina has visited the residents numerous times over the past year, and described her experience in the Gardens recently in the Philadelphia Inquirer:
Nancy Lopez raised five children on her own, and they have since gone on to college and joined the working world. She sometimes worked two jobs to afford the mortgage on her three-bedroom house in the Gardens. And now the township is telling Lopez that her home, her efforts, and her memories aren’t good enough.
Down the block, Leona Wright just turned 92. When she moved into the Gardens, her son was in the third grade. Her late husband was a World War II veteran, and they moved to the Gardens because they thought they could put down roots there. They bought two rowhouses and combined them into one, now meticulously decorated with family photos and memorabilia.
These women and their neighbors loved the Gardens. They relied on one another and helped raise each other’s children. Over the years, they’ve held block cleanup competitions, festivals, and talent shows. Their mutual concern for each other was the lifeblood of this community, and the township has drained it without a second thought.
And yet despite the best efforts of tax-hungry politicians and land-hungry developers, the Gardens will not be completely destroyed anytime soon.
Mount Holly shows us that more work is needed in our nationwide fight to end eminent domain abuse. But it also shows us that a small band of committed activists, working together, can triumph over Big Government.
We are hopeful that with this week’s ruling the Gardens will ultimately prevail.
Are you fan of IJ on facebook? Become one today! Just click here.
Email this to a friend | Print |
Share on Facebook
| Tweet this
| 
Follow Us on Twitter
Subscribe via RSS
Got a Tip?
52 Comments
This is what happens when a government outgrows it's need and taxpayer base, it needs to sell out to a higher tax base just to fund it's bloated self.
I have reading articles about this abuse of power for decades. Obviously, there is something wrong with a law or legal principle such as eminent domain that the stealing of personal property can be so rampant. Just another fine example of the corruption of public officials.
The Constitution is no longer in force….. because of Democrats
We, the People, should apply the government's eminent domain policy to the White House and evict the current residents! Bet that policy would 'disappear' in a blink. This whole thing makes me furious beyond words! grrrrrr I hope they win! Even if they do, their cherished neighborhood has been damaged and will never be the same. Never.
America has become a third world country.
Unfortunately, the only way local government officials will get the message is when a home owner decides to stand his ground, and defend his property to the death. Then the eminent domain fight really gets ugly.
Eminent Domain abuse is a huge problem. Obviously, when measured against the state or financial interests seeking to confiscate property, the person who owns the property is always outmatched exponentially in resources. But to complicate that, the property owner is one person, or a small group of people, and for society at large, their plight is difficult to assimilate. It's always happening to someone else – until it happens to you. Outrage over any given particular case is difficult to muster, and forcing states, municipalities, or financial interests to justify themselves in the court of public opinion takes resources that individuals do not typically possess.
The courts made the right call here, but it does little to solve the systemic problem of the powerful confiscating the property of the weak for the gain of the powerful. If we do not have strong property rights, we do not have liberty.
Join conservatives in an open discussion forum, "It's About Liberty"
http://www.itsaboutliberty.com
It happened in New London Ct and then Pfizer (the ones that started it all) got up and moved a few towns over without building a single condo, office or store.. The lots are now empty.
If you want eminent domain, the property owners should be paid at least 150% of the value. If its worth that much to someone then pay up or get lost.
One word for all of you residents…. RECALL
Was the eminent domain noticed delivered by El Presidente for life or did one of his/her minions do it?
This has been going on for a while now..It is ABUSE OF POWER and should be prosecuted! Sorry that the developers and the town Govt officials are colluding to destroy individual American's lives but that is the reality that we must fight!
If this unholy alliance wants the property of these American Citizens, they need to ASK and be willing to pay 5 times the value to obtain the voluntary move from the Citizens. Otherwise NO DICE! Big Government is a toxic machine which needs to have term limits to ensure constant turnover so that this type of collusion STOPS NOW!
Created Legislation to harness these LOCAL TOWN BULLIES! This is happening in every town in America, and it is unacceptable. NO EXCUSES! New laws are the only answer.
Tea Party friends, get on your local town boards and stop the abuses of these local town bullies who live in town halls for 20 years or more raping the town citizens by imposing excessive taxes, and then buying up all of the local real estate with suspicious tactics. NO!
If there be a government then which prides itself in maintaining the inviolability of property; which provides that none shall be taken directly even for public use without indemnification to the owner, and yet directly violates the property which individuals have in their opinions, their religion, their persons, and their faculties; nay more, which indirectly violates their property, in their actual possessions, in the labor that acquires their daily subsistence, and in the hallowed remnant of time which ought to relieve their fatigues and soothe their cares, the influence [inference?] will have been anticipated, that such a government is not a pattern for the United States.
If the United States mean to obtain or deserve the full praise due to wise and just governments, they will equally respect the rights of property, and the property in rights: they will rival the government that most sacredly guards the former; and by repelling its example in violating the latter, will make themselves a pattern to that and all other governments.
James Madison
I live in NJ and can tell you that, before Chris Christie was elected, we had the trifector of an ultra progressive governor Jon Corzine (and former Goldman Sachs CEO), a Democratic legislature, and an uber-Liberal Judiciary. It was the People’s Republic of NJ.
The courts have terrorized the population for decades with wealth redistribution and social engineering, impacting every area of our lives. Media reporting on this abuse of power is non-existent, as the NJ old liberal media continues to unabated, cheering for the unions and excoriating Christie.
Yes, Christie is standing up to the unions but few realize just how much damage the “ruling class” has done and continues to do.
The power of the public unions (teachers, police, firefighters, nurses, etc.) is still enormous, as they still own most of the Democratic legislators. And the courts are still reeking havoc. This article is representative of how out of control, and destructive big government is.
Eminent domain is a required tool in the government toolbox but like so many others, it can so easily be abused. KELO is one such example of that very thing happening.
Personally, I think a solution is this. I submit that 11 times fair market value be the standard for a taking of property. Why 11? Simple. If government is going to take property for a proper purpose, say a road or easement to run a underground water, oil or gas main, then the property value paid -plus ten times its value- paid will function as a check to ensure that it is really "worth" it to engage in a taking.
One thing is for sure, we must remove the function called property tax which pits one American against another. Property tax is communist in nature and is a common way takings happen in the most unjust manner. Unjust takings, of all kinds, have to stop if the Fourth Amendment is to be respected.
and Republicans, but it doesn't stop there. It is also We The People's fault that the Constitution is not in force. We let them continue to get away with ignoring it day after day after day after day.
This is happening on a grand scale in Northern CA right now. They are taking land claiming it is for development, but never develop the land.
Sounds like they are ramping up Agenda 21 to a whole new level.
http://www.bing.com/videos/watch/video/agenda-21-...
This proves A Government big enough to give you what you want,
also has the power to take what you have.
And more starkly, as Jefferson said, anything that can be taken away from you–you should not consider yours.
Time to re-establish Constitutional principles.
Bob Ewing,
Thank you for reporting on this abuse that has been going on in NJ for decades but has barely been reported by the old media.
Do you understand why taking back our country starts on our block? In our neighborhood? LOCAL GOVT IS KEY. Our dog catchers sho0uld be CONSERVATIVE. Assemblymen, Superintendent of schools, Zoning Commission, you name it.
The fight is in your neighborhood. WILL YOU RISE UP TO THE CHALLENGE??
Is there a difference between a returning soldier finding out government is physically taking the property that belongs to a Citizen in this way and banning the owner of a property, say a bar, from returning from a war abroad and sitting at a stool at his own bar and smoking a cigarette and sharing stories with his patrons about his experiences? How about when government forces a Citizen to pay for a permission slip in order that they may exercise an enumerated right? Is that anything other than a taking?
When it comes down to it, government has claimed ownership and authority over everything and everyone. It did so with an errant Supreme Court ruling, well a few of them really, regarding the 14th Amendment (and in some cases the Constitution itself).
The first part of the problem is 9 robed kings issuing "rulings". We are not subjects to be ruled over, we are Citizens with rights. The second part is the "rulings" handed down themselves. Barron versus Baltimore and SlaughterHouse cases rulings must be rejected. In both, the court ruled that the Constitution says things it doesn't say and effectively amended it from within the judiciary – which is unconstitutional in and of itself. Law has been supplanted with "precedent" and it is time we correct that historical mistake, that historical injustice.
We must break the chains of economic slavery that bind us today. We do so by withholding our consent to be governed in this Unconstitutional way. We do that by reading and understanding the Constitution and the base on which it rests – the Declaration of Independence.
Wish I could give you more thumbs up on your comment.
Wish the Founders had left in property as one of the unalienable rights.
Eminant domain is one of the worst things ever. Right up there with abuses of the Commerce Clause, government funding non-government organizations and leaving Congress out of th term limits amendment.
I have the feeling that this administration's main goal is to take away all property rights. It is the Progressive agenda.
Past time
The property tax is another way of saying that you can't own something and your rights are subservient to the government.
One word KELO. The supreme court put it's stamp of approval on this tyrannical behavior in the KELO decision. I am glad that the developers of the KELO property backed out of the deal and I hope that the loss of tax dollars to the local government forces them to dis-incorporate. The town I used to live in partially succeeded in stealing land from it's rightful owners, but one man fought them and ran the city to the edge of bankruptcy.now we have 2 city halls and some poorly planned parkland that will continue to COST the city money for upkeep and NEVER create any tax revenue. I hope those residents who sat idly by and allowed this to happened enjoy the increase in taxes. I sold out and left. If I am not secure in my property then I cannot be secure in my person!
Excellent analysis, Bash.
Eminent Domain is nothing more than legalized theft (along with the income tax).
WOW! How heartening to have community activists working for the RIGHTS of people instead of the abuse of others' rights.
"Eminent Domain is nothing more than legalized theft (along with the income tax). "
Not so much. I rather like the interstate highway system, airports and public access to lakes and beaches which would not exist without it. Like any necessary government authority, it becomes tyrannical when misused and abused – which is all too often .
This lady's story is far more common than we think. Kudos to Bob Ewing and Institute for Justice for bringing this lady's plight into the spotlight. She may have a chance. Thousands of others will just get the Gov shaft.
A True Republican believes in Individual Rights….. so I will add RINOs in with the Democrats..
"because of Democrats and RINOs"
RINOs.
Toll roads for all interstates, or state funds gained as their citizens see fit. Federal funds should be used only for those as inumerated in the constitution. You want a depaertment of X? Make it mandatory to amend the Constitution for it.
Always follow the money. I believe that a home is an individual's castle. I despise eminent domain unless a person is paid fair market value which will allow that individual to purchase another home of at least equal or better value. America wake up and reassert our rights.
I have seen the enemy and it is the government.
They did this in Dallas when they built the new Cowboy stadium. People who had lived in the area forever lost their homes. It was unforgivable. To work and save and buy a home then be tossed out for a football Stadium is a slap in the face of the American home owner.
This is out and out theft. We went through this in Florida. Snached from the jaws of defeat at the last moment. Jeb Bush put a stop the abuse in 2006. The solution is simple. Return your state law to restricting Eminent Domain to constitutional uses only.
This is where the SCOTUS usurped the Constitution in Kelo vs. City of New London.
This was one of the worst rulings to ever come of the high court, and IMO, done intentional to pave way for the massive NAFTA super highway. Why?….because the court docket show NOT only the U.S.D.O.J AWOL, but also the Solicitor General. To say the least, very odd absence in a Constitutionally questioned case!
Where are is President Obama and the Democrats protesting for the rights of these people.
Oh, I forgot, they want steal the peoples land at half the price it is worth. Get rich people to move in. Tax the rich people and give the money to the Union bosses through union dues, pension funds, and health care plans run by the Union Bosses who get their cuts off the top. Democrats of course get millions in campaign contributions from those same Union Bosses.
Democrats only care about the rights of Union Bosses to steal from the taxpayers. Not the right of ordinary people, union and non-union a like, to keep the homes they worked their whole life to pay off.
"Toll roads for all interstates, or state funds gained as their citizens see fit."
You're missing the point. The comment is re eminent domain, not funding. In order for all citizens to travel freely we need interstate highways and airports for the common good. To build them you need land that someone already owns. Even under eminent domain the government is required to compensate the owner at a fair value. That's the catch – who establishes the value? And more importantly, what justifies the use of eminent domain? A strategic military base for our common defense? Yup. Throwing an elderly lady out of her house to develop upscale housing? Nope. A case needs to be made justifying the "common good". This case came up way short.
FWIW I'm not defending the practice, just making an observation.
Ouch. Well said.
Pfizer is the Borg.
I believe they thought they did.
Thank you Swede! I really appreciate it. The residents in Mount Holly are wonderful people and yesterday's ruling gives them hope.
The government can use eminent domain to remove my bullet laden body and the bodies of at least several construction workers, a few police officers, some lackey from the mayor's office sent to negotiate and a few others…
Rest assurred, The disaster I leave will take superfund money and a decade to clean up.
Amazing comment,
Very good Mike! And in what district are you running? If possible, I'll go there and vote for you.
Sorry Swede but, you would have all the things you note without taxes. Private enterprise would make it work in every case. Maybe a touch more slowly but, it would be done. Otherwise you are right, this is theft, plain and simple.
"All your house are belong to us."
Think they changed property to the pursuit of happiness.
We need to go back to what the original reasons eminent domain was used for. It was never intended to allow private business to come in and confiscate private property for profit and to increase the tax base for greedy politicians to spend, spend, spend. If we don't stop this abuse, no of us is safe.
You must be logged in to post a comment.