It's Almost Time to Get Out the Guns

Did you guys read this?

Apparently, the supremes are allowing local governments to seize privately owned land for private development. Basically, if your city council decides it wants to have a mall, apartment complex, or some other tax-generating structure built where your house is, they can take your land against your wishes, compensate you as they see fit, and give the land to a private developer.

In her dissent, Sandra Day O'Connor wrote:

"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."

She was joined in her opinion by Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist, as
well as Justices Antonin Scalia and Clarence Thomas.

The part of my mind that has sympathy for state's rights issues says "yay" for the Supremes acknowledging that the federal government has no business overseeing local land transactions, which the local governments should be best-suited to supervise. Unfortunately, this is one of those issues where the federal government needs to kick the state and local governments in the ass, so that they follow that Constitution-thingy. It's too bad that the Supremes got it wrong, this time. Read the Fifth Amendment, and tell me what you "public use" means.

Anybody notice that it's the "pro-corporation, right-wing nutjobs" opposing this? This is why Supreme Court nominations are so important.

Vote....and learn how to shoot.