Kelo Anniversary

Friday was the anniversary of the infamous Kelo decision, opening the door of government condemnation of private property in the name of tax revenues. (That's the longsuffering Susette Kelo in the photo).

Had the President been given the opportunity to give Sam Alito a voice with the Supremes prior to that decision, it would have been decided differently.

Corrections are being made. Earlier this month, OC, like many local jurisdictions, overwhelmingly passed a county-wide ban on Kelo-like decisions. Now President Bush has done the same for the federal government. From Blogs of War:

President Bush just issued an executive order:

President George W. Bush issued an executive order on Friday to limit the U.S. government from taking private property only for the benefit of other private interests, like corporations.

The order came exactly a year after a divided Supreme Court ruled a city could take a person’s home or business for a development project to revitalize a depressed local economy, a practice known as eminent domain.

“The federal government is going to limit its own use of eminent domain so that it won’t be used for purely economic development purposes,” White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said.

You can read the order here.

It's largely a symbolic move, as the feds are unlikely to play the Kelo game, but it's a clear indication that the pendulum is swinging away from this governance attrocity. And it was a GOP prez who made the move.

Related Tags: Eminent domain, Kelo, Bush, Alito, Supreme Court