|
Eminently Unfair
by Jim
Lark
Libertarian Writers' Bureau Syndicate
September 29, 2003
Norwood, Ohio, a suburb of Cincinnati, is a
battleground in a "dirty war" in which
governments run roughshod over the rights of
property owners.
There are more than 70 properties that lie
within the eleven-acre area of the proposed
Rookwood Exchange shopping and office
development project in Norwood. Owners of seven
of those properties have so far chosen not to
sell to the project developers. The Norwood
City Council is threatening to use the power of
eminent domain to take the seven properties if
the recalcitrant owners refuse to sell.
Should the city council vote to take the seven
properties through eminent domain, it will be
one more example in a depressingly long list of
cases in which governments have used this power
to take property from one private party to
benefit another private party.
Eminent domain, as originally construed, meant
the taking of private property by government
for purposes that could reasonably be described
as truly public; i.e., purposes that truly
benefit all members of that society. Leaving
aside questions of whether such purposes
actually exist or whether eminent domain is
morally justified even for such purposes, the
use of eminent domain to take property from one
private owner and transfer it to another should
be regarded as profoundly wrong.
Many Americans became aware of the war in the
1990s when Donald Trump sought to enlarge the
operations of the Trump Plaza and Casino in
Atlantic City, New Jersey. Mr. Trump submitted
an expansion plan to the Casino Reinvestment
Development Authority (CRDA), a state
redevelopment agency. Part of the area to be
used in the expansion was already occupied by
several small businesses and the home of Vera
Coking, an elderly widow.
Ms. Coking, along with the owners of Banin Gold
and Sabatini's Italian Restaurant, refused to
sell their properties. When the CRDA initiated
proceedings in 1994 to take the properties, the
owners challenged the takings in court and were
victorious. The victory was seen by many as a
triumph of David over Goliath.
Dana Berliner is a chronicler of the war. She
is a senior attorney with the Institute for
Justice, a Washington, D.C. based organization
which works to protect the rights of the
individual against the state. Last April Ms.
Berliner and her colleagues published Public
Power, Private Gain: A Five-Year Report
Examining the Abuse of Eminent Domain. This
book provides hundreds of examples in which
eminent domain is used to benefit private
parties who wish to acquire property from those
who don't wish to sell (or don't wish to sell
for the price offered).
Many examples provided by Ms. Berliner are
horrifying. A common tactic by governments is
to declare an area to be "blighted," and thus
subject to condemnation. Those for whom the
term "blight" evokes images of rat-infested,
structurally unsound firetraps may be surprised
to learn that the term could denote that your
lawn is too small or your house doesn't have an
attached two-car garage. (Property owners in
the affected area in Norwood know about this
tactic. They have placed photos of the
properties in this area at
www.norwoodblight.com/images/block_photos_pa/index.htm
and invite you to judge for yourself whether a
"blight" designation is appropriate for their
area.)
In some states, predatory governments can use
"quick take" procedures, in which the
government deposits with a court the amount the
government considers a property to be worth,
and then very quickly takes possession of the
property. In some cases it is difficult for the
property owner to obtain a hearing before
government takes possession of the property.
As Ms. Berliner notes, many of the names of
victims of the war will never be known, because
those victims are forced by economic
circumstances to capitulate. Many property
owners decide that it is simply too expensive
or too painful to fight against the seemingly
limitless resources of government, and choose
to sell.
The news is not all bad; indeed, many victims
are now able to fight back, due to
organizations such as the Institute for
Justice. (On Sept. 23, the Institute filed suit
against the City of Norwood on behalf of
several citizens whose properties are in the
"blighted" area.) A few battles have been won
by the good guys, and information about the war
is more easily available. Unfortunately, some
of these battles were won not because people
recognized the inherent moral failings of
eminent domain, but because of narrow legal or
procedural issues. Also, one wonders how many
of those who celebrated the triumph of Vera
Coking over Donald Trump would have been
interested had Mr. Trump fixed his covetous eye
upon a ten-acre estate owned by a wealthy
family.
Will this war end soon? Probably not. As George
Bernard Shaw observed, any government that robs
Peter to pay Paul can count upon the support of
Paul, and there are plenty of Pauls running
loose.
-----------------------------------------------
About the author:
Jim Lark is a professor in the Department of
Systems and Information Engineering at the
University of Virginia. He served as the
national chairman of the Libertarian Party
during the 2000-2002 term.
|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|*|
L i b e r t y W i r e
is the official email list of the
American Liberty Foundation -- a non-profit
educational organization promoting the ideas of
individual liberty and personal responsibility.
VISIT the Foundation's web site at
http://www.AmericanLibertyFoundation.org
CONTRIBUTE to the Foundation at
http://www.AmericanLibertyFoundation.org/gateway.htm
|
