yesterday, started to put my thoughts together for a post about how shitty i think the kelo v. new london decision is. then i got really busy and so my brilliant post never quite got written. now it's a bit later and i've mellowed a bit so now all i think all i have in me is something shorter.
it's still a shitty decision. this is one of those rare occasions that i'm on the side of the conservative dissenters. the issue was never really about private property rights vs. public use, it was about the property rights of the rich and influential vs. the property rights of everyone else. it is a pleasant surprise to see that a justice like thomas is willing to look at the real world application of his ruling to see which interpretation squashes the little guy. if only he and his co-dissenters would be willing to do that on every issue.
meanwhile, right in my own backyard, there's a simmering eminent domain issue. a large hunk of downtown ardmore, pa is about to be seized to effectuate the master plan of some commercial developer. most of the the businesses that will be seized are actually quite popular and profitable, they just happen to be in the way of the developer's plan. and so, the developer has gotten the local downship to declare the block in question a "blighted area", which is a total joke. ardmore sits in the "main line" a collection of the richest suburbs of philadelphia. indeed, the main line contains the third richest zip code in the nation (and the wealthiest zip in the country outside of california). if not for the wonders of faculty housing, mrs. noz and i probably couldn't afford to live where we live. the idea that lancaster avenue is "blighted" is simply a sham designed to allow the developer to get its greedy paws on some prime real estate.
and thanks to kelo they probably will get away with it too. (for more info on the ardmore matter see the save ardmore coalition web site).
