# SCOTUS: Cities can seize homes for economic development **URL:** \ **Category:** The BBQ Pit\ **Created:** [June 23, 2005, 2:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535 "2005-06-23T14:57:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 14
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/261 "2005-06-28T19:12:33Z")
> [@foolsguinea](#): > > Again, obsolete, dangerous, & unoccupied buildings fall under the “blight” exception in most states. Genuinely “blighted” buildings can be condemned under the traditional police powers of the jurisdiction for being a firetrap and a health hazard. Restricting eminent domain to the traditional boundaries cited in the minority opinion has no effect on that. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 7:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/262 "2005-06-28T19:18:01Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > The developers will try to buy up the land outright, and often they will succeed. Some people will demand a lot of money, and most of them will get what they want too. Then you have the asshole holdouts who are either trying to jack the price of their land to the stratosphere (they are the greedy ones, not the developers), or people like some of the morons in this thread who say they’ll defend their property against condemnation with guns. > > Most of these people are old people. They are not nice grammas who just want to live on 150 Elm St. until they pass on; those people have already sold out and are living elsewhere. No, they’re petty old fuckers who like to be at the center of a ruckus. Or they have been investing in real estate all their lives and just like the game of holding out and trying to get more. Most of the time, it isn’t even houses: it’s industrial or commercial land that they underutilize or let go absolutely to hell. > > There is a rich northern suburb here that shall go unnamed, but which is trying like hell, valiantly, to build cool new stuff that will benefit the whole city. But you’ve got oldies with shitty, dilapidated industrial properties. They have no intention of renting out the properties, they’ve got no intention of selling it at a reasonable price, and they’re just being cocks about everything the city is trying to do. They are nothing like any of the pitiable examples in this thread. If individual liberty applies only to the right to do things that are approved by the community, then it is meaningless. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_MB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steve_mb/32/5339_2.png) [@Steve\_MB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_MB)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/263 "2005-06-28T19:22:51Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > Well, what does “own” mean? When you “own” something does a silver cord extend from your midriff to the property, making it “yours”? > > No, ownership is a social construct (a very natural one and perhaps intrinsic to human nature, but nevertheless a creation of human society), and each society determines what form that construct will take. Again, you are proposing (more explicitly this time) a concept of “rights” that reduces the entire notion to nullity. Does your voice magically project beyond the deepest dungeon into which the powers that be toss your sorry ass? Well, then, the right to speak freely is a mere “social construct”. Does the God you believe in actually manifest and intervene when someone forcibly interrupts your devotions? Well, then, the right to practice your religion is a mere “social construct”. Do you grow _dentata_ when subjected to involuntary sexual penetration? Well, then, the right not to be raped is a mere “social construct”. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/264 "2005-06-28T21:46:19Z")
Liberal vs. conservative, left vs right, screw all that. This ruling says that you can be tossed out of your home, and off your land, to make way for another Walmart or Chuck E Cheese. You can be condemned and evicted, just so some mega chain will make a profit. Fuck that. That has nothing to do with public works or public good. It is government enforcement of corporate greed. If this were ever done to me, then that company better have a shitload of fire insurance. They better check their car’s brake lines every day. They better never go anywhere alone. That would be just my warm up. ---
**Author:** ![Hoopy\_Frood](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hoopy_frood/32/8452_2.png) [@Hoopy\_Frood](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hoopy_Frood)\ **Post date:** [June 28, 2005, 9:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/265 "2005-06-28T21:55:10Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Bwahahahaha! > [http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html](http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html) Yeah, I just saw that at the message board I administer. Nothing quite like a good dose of comeuppance. I hope these people succeed. ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 1:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/266 "2005-06-29T01:02:41Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Bw > [http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html](http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html) That might just be the best news story I have ever read. ---
**Author:** ![Aeschines](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aeschines/32/16251_2.png) [@Aeschines](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aeschines)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 3:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/267 "2005-06-29T03:13:24Z")
The freaks in this thread and their threats. Scary. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/268 "2005-06-29T04:18:20Z")
They’re not scaring me. But then again I wouldn’t be the one trying to steal their homes. ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 6:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/269 "2005-06-29T06:48:23Z")
> [@World Eater](#): > > Bwahahahaha! [http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html](http://www.freenation.tv/hotellostliberty2.html) How much you want to bet they go after the guy using the Patriot Act or something similar? ---
**Author:** ![KidCharlemagne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ed8c4c/32.png) [@KidCharlemagne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/KidCharlemagne)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 12:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/270 "2005-06-29T12:53:40Z")
I was just about to post a link to the Hotel of Lost Liberty Project. I really really really hope this gets done. It would be one of the greatest comeuppances of all time. Does anyone know if this is Souter’s home, or just land he owns? ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/271 "2005-06-29T22:57:54Z")
> [@Aeschines](#): > > The freaks in this thread and their threats. Scary. You support the idea that some rich and powerful person can now grease the right palm and take the home you live in (which took most of your life to get) to build a parking lot or strip mall? That doesn’t scare you? Keep in mind too, that the “promised” increases in tax revenue somehow will never materialize. There will be sweetheart deals and tax breaks for Mister Bigmoney, advantageous re-zoning, and a judicious juggling of the books to hide profits. Also, promised jobs will not appear - automation will take care of that. Or, the land will lay fallow, to be sold later as either a profit or tax dodge. Some of will fight to keep what we have. There’s nothing freakish about not wanting to be fucked over by fatcat and their pet politicians. ---
**Author:** ![StarvingButStrong](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/starvingbutstrong/32/335_2.png) [@StarvingButStrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StarvingButStrong)\ **Post date:** [June 29, 2005, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/272 "2005-06-29T23:06:17Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > That might just be the best news story I have ever read. And I hope it inspires a similar move from someone against EACH AND EVERY ONE of the justices who voted for it. Hah! Whose ox is being gored now? ---
**Author:** ![Yeticus\_Rex](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/a698b9/32.png) [@Yeticus\_Rex](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yeticus_Rex)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/273 "2005-06-30T01:03:21Z")
> [@From Link](#): > > Clements, CEO of Freestar Media, LLC, points out that the City of Weare will certainly gain greater tax revenue and economic benefits with a hotel on 34 Cilley Hill Road than allowing Mr. Souter to own the land Go public so every pissed-off citizen can buy stock for a $1 a share! Then start making plans for the other four justices! Go Big Business! 😉 ---
**Author:** ![FinnAgain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/finnagain/32/12500_2.png) [@FinnAgain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FinnAgain)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/274 "2005-06-30T01:30:26Z")
> [@StarvingButStrong](#): > > And I hope it inspires a similar move from someone against EACH AND EVERY ONE of the justices who voted for it. > > Hah! Whose ox is being gored now? As I posted in a friend’s LJ: Got any memories in that home, Mr Justice? Brought new born infants home and kept them in a crib in a room they later grew up in? Spent late nights on the porch with your wife looking at the stars? Sorry, we need a new Walmart. Fire up the bulldozer. I would pay money to be among the first people to take a sledgehammer to his home. ---
**Author:** ![SteveG1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/bb73d2/32.png) [@SteveG1](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SteveG1)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/275 "2005-06-30T01:58:31Z")
> [@FinnAgain](#): > > As I posted in a friend’s LJ: > > Got any memories in that home, Mr Justice? Brought new born infants home and kept them in a crib in a room they later grew up in? Spent late nights on the porch with your wife looking at the stars? Sorry, we need a new Walmart. Fire up the bulldozer. > > I would pay money to be among the first people to take a sledgehammer to his home. Say when. I’ll buy the hammer for you. Just promise I get a few swings too. ---
**Author:** ![Erwin\_Chemerinsky](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ce73a5/32.png) [@Erwin\_Chemerinsky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erwin_Chemerinsky)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/276 "2005-06-30T03:27:16Z")
NH will probably protect Justice Souter’s home. > [@](#): > > Another three — Delaware, New Hampshire and Massachusetts — have indicated they probably will find condemnations for economic development alone unconstitutional, while the remaining states have not addressed or spoken clearly to the question. [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/) ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/277 "2005-06-30T05:31:15Z")
> [@SteveG1](#): > > Or, the land will lay fallow, to be sold later as either a profit or tax dodge. Like the vacant lot where the house I grew up in used to sit, and my mother lived for over 30 years. The developers **had** to have the land, screwed my mother out of most of the value of her home (so, no retirement for mom, at nearly 80, she’s still working), torched the place, and have let the land sit ever since. ---
**Author:** ![Liberal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/848f3c/32.png) [@Liberal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Liberal)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 10:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/278 "2005-06-30T10:24:26Z")
> [@Erwin Chemerinsky](#): > > NH will probably protect Justice Souter’s home. > > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/) [Scarlet O’Hara fanning herself] Why, I am just so surprised. [blink…blink…] [/Scarlet O’Hara fanning herself] ---
**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 11:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/279 "2005-06-30T11:40:21Z")
> [@Erwin Chemerinsky](#): > > NH will probably protect Justice Souter’s home. > > [http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/](http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8331097/page/2/) There’s four more Justices he could go after. Do any of them live in Connecticut? ---
**Author:** ![Tuckerfan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/eada6e/32.png) [@Tuckerfan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tuckerfan)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535/280 "2005-06-30T16:43:50Z")
Anybody else see [this?](http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050629/ap_on_re_us/souter_property) > [@](#): > > A few police cruisers were parked on the edge of Souter’s property Tuesday. > > “It was a precaution, just being protective,” said Lt. Mark Bodanza. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535.md?page=13) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/scotus-cities-can-seize-homes-for-economic-development/309535.md?page=15)