By Kelly McCutchen

Atlanta – The U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London issued a ruling yesterday allowing state and local governments to seize unblemished private property and transfer it to private businesses in hopes of stimulating the local economy.

The Georgia Public Policy Foundation joined the amicus curiae filing in this case earlier this year to highlight concerns about local governments’ abuse of the eminent domain law.

“This shocking ruling eviscerates the 5th amendment protections against unreasonable taking of private property,” said Kelly McCutchen, executive vice president of the Foundation. “This highlights the importance of ensuring that federal judges are placed on the bench who uphold the original intent of the Constitution rather than contorting its meaning to fit personal beliefs.”

The Foundation cites the dissenting arguments of Justices Sandra Day O’Connor and Clarence Thomas to support their view:

Justice O’Connor:
“The specter of condemnation [now] hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory.”

“Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result."

Justice Thomas:
“This deferential shift in phraseology enables the Court to hold, against all common sense, that a costly urban-renewal project whose stated purpose is a vague promise of new jobs and increased tax revenue, but which is also suspiciously agreeable to the Pfizer Corporation, is for a ‘public use.’”

“If such ‘economic development’ takings are for a ‘public use,’ any taking is, and the Court has erased the Public Use Clause from our Constitution...”

“Something has gone seriously awry with this Court's interpretation of the Constitution. Though citizens are safe from the government in their homes, the homes themselves are not.”

“Allowing the government to take property solely for public purposes is bad enough, but extending the concept of public purpose to encompass any economically beneficial goal guarantees that these losses will fall disproportionately on poor communities.”

Formed in the fall of 1991, the Georgia Public Policy Foundation is the only private, nonpartisan research and education organization in Georgia that focuses on state policy issues. Its members are a diverse group of Georgians that share a common belief that the solutions to most problems lie in a strong private sector, not in a big government bureaucracy. The Foundation’s commitment to limited government includes ensuring that government’s constitutional ability to take private property for public use is never abused.

The amicus curiae brief filed on behalf of the Foundation and eight other organizations is available here.

Contact Kelly McCutchen
kmccutchen@gppf.org
(404) 256-4050 or (404) 791-2650