Eminent Domain Ranking
The IJ ranks Kansas and Missouri among the worst land grabbers:
You think you own your home or land until a developer comes along and wants it. The watchdog group Institute for Justice says cities in Kansas and Missouri are the worst in the nation when it comes to taking private property for another person’s private gain.
On the criteria for ED:
“Anything is blight if the city legislature says it is,” said Sherwin Epstein, an eminent domain attorney.
Epstein said blight, by Kansas City’s definition, can be found just about anywhere and is. Flink said the new federal courthouse still sits on blighted land, along with parts of the Country Club Plaza now under development.
The Institute for Justice is taking the case:
“Well, if property is being taken for someone else’s private benefit, that is not a public use. That not only mangles the words of the Constitution, but it mangles people’s basic property rights. And it’s outrageous,” said Bert Gall, of the Institute for Justice.
November 18th, 2004 at 6:22 pm
In Merriam (Kansas) the City Council used eminent domain to take a user car lot and sell it to a BMW dealer. Four of eight city councilfolks promptly got voted out and the city government has been in turmoil ever since.
The people have been known to take exception to government overreach.
Yours,
Wince