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October 2, 2016
From: The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer
Organizations
Contact: Susan Kniep, President
Website: http://ctact.org/
Email: fctopresident@aol.com
Telephone: 860-841-8032
EMINENT DOMAIN: THE POWER OF
GOVERNMENT TO TAKE YOUR HOME,
PROPERTY, AND BUSINESS!!!
BUT SOME ARE FIGHTING BACK!
FROM PIPELINES IN NORTH
DAKOTA TO
HOMES IN WEST HAVEN, CT!!!
Today, Oct 2, 2016, the following was published in the
Day of New London
The Ghosts of Kelo Haunting West Haven
By
Renee Flaherty The author is an attorney at the Institute for Justice, which represents
Mr. McGinnity and his family in their lawsuit to stop
West Haven from
taking their homes.
Over a decade
ago, New London
used eminent domain to bulldoze an entire neighborhood for economic
development. The U.S.
Supreme Court shocked the nation when it upheld the condemnations in Kelo v. New London.
And it was all for nothing: Where more than 70 homes and businesses once stood,
there is now empty land filled with weeds. The promised new homes and
businesses were never built, and the Kelo decision is
infamous.
Now, West Haven seems determined to
make the same mistake that New London
did. Continue reading at http://www.theday.com/op-edguest-opinions/20161002/ghosts-of-kelo-haunting-west-haven
The Institute for
Justice continues to work for property owners against the heavy hand
of government attempting to confiscate their homes and businesses in the name of
Eminent Domain as noted within the following Press Releases -
Institute for Justice.
On Feb 23,
2015, USAToday published
Eminent domain abuse
hurts America: Column
As the economy
improves, expect developers to demand more uprooted families.
The column was
written by Scott Bullock and Dana Berliner, attorneys with the Institute for
Justice. Mr. Bullock argued the Kelo case before the U.S. Supreme Court and Ms. Berliner argued the
case before the Connecticut
Supreme Court.
The column
begins: Ten years ago this week, Justice Sandra Day OConnor
engaged in an exchange in the now infamous case of Kelo v. City of New
London that would not
only surprise her you could tell by the expression on her face but the rest of the listeners in the Court, as well
Continue reading at http://www.usatoday.com/story/opinion/2015/02/23/kelo-supreme-court-city-homes-development-column/23673563/
On September
28, 2016 a Press Release on the West Haven, Ct Property was issued by Shira Rawlinson Assistant Director of Communications of the Institute of
Justice captioned
|
Connecticut Retiree Fights to Keep Family
Home from Being Bulldozed
The following
is an excerpt: This case is worse than Kelo,
explained IJ Senior Attorney Robert McNamara, who is representing the McGinnity family. In Kelo, the
courts held that government officials could use a private developer to advance
a redevelopment plan. But here, a private developer is using the government. West Haven did not want a
shopping mall; the developer did. West
Haven did not come up with a plan for this area; the
developer did. And West Haven
did not decide to take the McGinnitys properties; the
developer did. That is not just wrong. It is unconstitutional.
Continue reading at http://ij.org/press-release/connecticut-retiree-fights-keep-family-home-bulldozed/
On Wednesday, Sept 28, 2016 a News Conference was held on the West Haven Property as
described within the following
MEDIA
ADVISORY
NEWS CONFERENCE: WEST HAVEN RETIREE FILES LAWSUIT TO KEEP FAMILY HOME FROM
BEING BULLDOZED
DATE/TIME: WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 28, 2016/10:30 A.M.
PLACE: Front Steps
State of Connecticut Superior Court
Judicial District of Ansonia
14 West River St.
Milford, Connecticut 06460
PARTICIPANTS:
Bob McGinnity, West Haven homeowner and client
Robert McNamara and Renee Flaherty, Institute for Justice Attorneys
Brian Smith, Andrew DePeau and Evan Seeman, Robinson & Cole, LLP
CONTACT: Shira Rawlinson, IJ Assistant Director
of Communications,
(703) 682-9320 ext. 229
SUMMARY: On Wednesday, September 28, 2016, at 10:30 a.m., West Haven
resident Bob McGinnity and the Institute for Justice
will hold a press
conference announcing a major constitutional lawsuit to save his family
home from being bulldozed. The city of West Haven
wants to demolish the
homes of Bob and his elderly uncle because a Texas-based private
developer has decided he wants to build a strip mall along the West
Haven waterfront. The McGinnity
family has lived in West Haven
for more
than 50 years and Bobs entire life. Bob and his family
do not want to
sell their properties.
Unfortunately, West Haven is in Connecticut, home of Kelo v. New
London, the much-reviled 2005 U.S. Supreme Court case that
allowed
government officials to condemn property based on nothing more than a
promise to generate more tax revenue. That decision sparked outrage and
a nationwide backlash 44 states have passed laws reforming their eminent
domain laws to make Kelo style takings harder and
nine state supreme
courts have rejected the Kelo decision.
The Kelo case is also notable for what it did not
spark:
development. Twelve years later, the neighborhood destroyed by New
London is a vacant lot populated only by grass, weeds
and feral cats.
The lesson of Kelo is clear: Eminent domain abuse
hurts property
owners, destroys communities and fails to generate the kind of
development its proponents promise. But West
Haven has taken the
opposite lesson from the case, which is why IJ and Bob are fighting the
unconstitutional taking in court.
Institute for Justice www.IJ.org 901 N. Glebe Road, Suite 900,
Arlington, VA 22203 Tel (703) 682-9320
****************
Much has been written on the issue of Eminent Domain abuse to
include the following
Friday,
July 1, 2016
In April 2014,
we posted a blog discussing the North Carolina Supreme Court opinion in Beroth Oil v. NCDOT,
367 N.C. 33, 757 S.E. 2d 466 (2014). (See
here) In
that post, we compared high frequency stock market trading and the
Transportation Corridor Act (the Act). We suggested that the Act and high
frequency stock market trading serve the same purpose-manipulating market
prices to the advantage of traders and the North Carolina Department of
Transportation (NCDOT).
The Act allowed
NCDOT to cast the dark shadow of condemnation blight over targeted properties
by recording a map in the land records and indexing the map under the names of
all property owners whose property was included in the possible future road
corridor (Recordation Right). Thereby, all prospective purchasers were on
record notice that the property was targeted for possible future forced
acquisition. Continue reading at http://www.natlawreview.com/article/classic-private-property-rights-and-public-coffers
THE HEADLINES HELP TO TELL THE UNFOLDING STORY OF
THE DAKOTA PIPELINE AND THOSE WHO OPPOSE IT
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