Kelo Seizure Pointless Project Not Built

They had to use eminent domain to take the plan. The project that was to bring jobs and tax revenues simply had to be built. Only it hasn't been and the land sits barren, simply clutttered with debri. Because government is always right.

Kelo's iconic pink home sat for more than a century on that currently empty lot, just steps away from Connecticut's quaint but economically distressed Long Island Sound waterfront. Shortly after she moved in, in 1997, her house became ground zero in the nation's best-known land rights catfight.

NEW LONDON, Conn. (AP) -- Weeds, glass, bricks, pieces of pipe and shingle splinters have replaced the knot of aging homes at the site of the nation's most notorious eminent domain project.

There are a few signs of life: Feral cats glare at visitors from a miniature jungle of Queen Anne's lace, thistle and goldenrod. Gulls swoop between the lot's towering trees and the adjacent sewage treatment plant.

But what of the promised building boom that was supposed to come wrapped and ribboned with up to 3,169 new jobs and $1.2 million a year in tax revenues? They are noticeably missing.

Proponents of the ambitious plan blame the sour economy. Opponents call it a "poetic justice."

"They are getting what they deserve. They are going to get nothing," said Susette Kelo, the lead plaintiff in the landmark property rights case. "I don't think this is what the United States Supreme Court justices had in mind when they made this decision."

Comments

[OCBill]

The beauty of Kelo is that it effectively seized all private property in America. Private property "owners" are now just private property "caretakers" who get to use and maintain a given piece of property at their expense until the government decides they need it for something, like paying off an influential donor or taking revenge on an opponent. Kelo joins the Commerce Clause decisions in the pantheon of the worst-for-freedom decisions of the Supreme Court.

[rwisher]

I agree and was shocked the SP went in the direction it did. However, the good news was the response from people and the states, which again re-established states rights over the federal decree. This is one example where the people refused to sit on the sidelines.

Funny thing about humans, we'll put up with a lot, until you touch our families or our land. I guess Jefferson had a point after all.

[FeFe]

I understand, Justice Sotomayor believes wise feral cats know best.

[Daniel]

I was in Connecticut earlier this month and took some pictures of what the condemned land looks like today. I have posted the pictures here: http://www.dr5.org/kelo-v-new-london-the-aftermath/