The Lost Liberty Hotel
Posted by
Sat. Jul 02, 1:00 PM
Looking for a relaxing vacation that will also stick it to The Man?
The recent decision by the Supreme Court to allow the government to seize property through eminent domain and then hand that property to a private entity for the purpose of economic expansion has angered, well, just about everyone who's not in the real estate industry.
Critics of the Kelo v. New London decision, myself included, argue that the decision would disenfranchise property owners who stand in the way of corporate planning. Justices Stevens, Breyer, Ginsburg, Kennedy, and Souter delivered the opinion of the court while the remainder of the court dissented. Retired Justice O'Connor wrote:
"Today the Court abandons this long-held, basic limitation on government power. Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner, so long as it might be upgraded--i.e., given to an owner who will use it in a way that the legislature deems more beneficial to the public--in the process. To reason, as the Court does, that the incidental public benefits resulting from the subsequent ordinary use of private property render economic development takings "for public use" is to wash out any distinction between private and public use of property--and thereby effectively to delete the words "for public use" from the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment. Accordingly I respectfully dissent."
and
"Finally, in a coda, the Court suggests that property owners should turn to the States, who may or may not choose to impose appropriate limits on economic development takings. Ante, at 19. This is an abdication of our responsibility. States play many important functions in our system of dual sovereignty, but compensating for our refusal to enforce properly the Federal Constitution (and a provision meant to curtail state action, no less) is not among them."
Logan Darrow Clements of Freestar Media has proposed to the Code Enforcement Officer of Weare, New Hampshire that Justice Souter's property in Weare be seized so that he can build a hotel on the property, to better serve the public's interest. He will need 3 of the town's 5 selectmen to agree to the project.
To help bolster Logan's project, an on-line pledge is now available. By signing the pledge, you would agree (follow-through is not enforced, for those looking to simply make a statement) to spend 7 days at the so-called Lost Liberty Hotel, built on Souter's seized property. The Hotel would feature a Just Desserts Cafe and hand out copies of Atlas Shrugged in lieu of a Gideon Bible (no, thanks).
Sign up today and help ensure that Souter lives out the rest of his days ruing his unwise decision.
Got something constructive to say? By all means, rant away. Gonna blab about something unrelated and/or talk shit? Don't expect your comment to stick around.