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June 23, 2005

Theft Isn't Theft If It Leads to More Theft

In an ideal world, no one would have the right to take someone else's property by force, regardless of the reason for taking it.

In the real world, of course, that is not the case. Nevertheless, the Fifth Amendment tries to limit government's takings by restricting them to "public use," which would seem to mean such things as government buildings, roads, etc.--i.e., things used by the general public.

The Supreme Court, not surprisingly, does not see things that way. It ruled--as usual, 5-4--today that the city of New London, CT, (and by extension other cities) has the right to take the property of its residents and give it to private developers to build "a riverfront hotel, health club and offices."

The majority opinion is expressed thus: "The city has carefully formulated an economic development that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including--but by no means limited to--new jobs and increased tax revenue." In short, if the government thinks it can squeeze more money out of new development than it can out of existing properties, it has every right to dispossess the current landowners in favor of the prospective ones.

Here's yet another reason to get rid of government.

Posted by Mike Tennant at June 23, 2005 11:50 AM

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