THE MICHIGAN POLETOWN DECISION
really is important. Without secure private property rights, you don't live in a free country. Eminent domain profiteering by businesses and local government has destroyed the notion of justice and the rule of law in many cities across the country. Virginia Postrel has more
here with additional links. Quotable: "Poletown popularized the idea that since the general public gains from economic growth, the government can seize private property to help out businesses. In this view, the positive spillovers from a private activity make that activity a public good. But, of course, all economic exchange has ripple effects. If that's all you need to invoke eminent domain, nobody's property is safe. .. The expansive definition of "public" in Poletown is just the flip side of the increasingly common idea that any negative effects of private activity should be public concerns--that ugly architecture is "visual pollution," vulgar movies are "cultural pollution," and personal habits like smoking cigarettes or eating too much are a matter of "public health." Follow that logic, and pretty soon everything we do has to be either subsidized, regulated, or banned."
See also Steven Greenhut's article in The OC Register (registration required). Quotable: "[As the] Michigan court ruling makes clear, property rights are not primarily about protecting the "rich and rich wannabes." They are, first and foremost, about protecting those without political power from those with power."
Posted by Greg Ransom
