Proposed Property Laws make Eminent Sense

Today an Illinois Senate committee is holding hearings on a law to tighten the definition of eminent domain, which has led to an abuse of power by many municipalities, taking the property of small businesses and homeowners against their will, and without just compensation, robbing them of the American Dream. The Castle Coalition has documented flagrant eminent domain abuse all over the country.

The Sun Times, in an editorial today representing all its 100 newspapers in the Chicago metro area:

When the U.S. Supreme Court ruled last year that local governments could take property not just for public uses such as roads, schools and libraries, but also for private development, there was great concern in Illinois and Indiana on the part of property owners. Now efforts are under way in the legislatures of both states to shore up the rights of property owners. The Sun-Times News Group believes these efforts deserve the strongest support.

Though the Illinois Supreme Court ruled in 2002 it was unconstitutional to take private, non-blighted property and give it to another party for private commercial use, the federal court ruling raised new questions about eminent domain. "Illinois statutes do not clearly spell out what municipalities are allowed to do and what alternatives property owners have when the power of eminent domain is brought to bear in any situation," said state Sen. Susan Garrett, a Democrat from Lake Forest.

She made those comments last month in introducing a badly needed bipartisan bill that would strive to ensure a proper balance between the needs of property owners and the needs of economic development. Currently making its way through the Illinois Senate, her bill would allow the condemnation of private property only in areas proved in a court of law to be blighted. In Indiana, a bill to restrict taking of land for private development has passed the House and is pending in a Senate committee.......

Economic development is not the enemy. In good times and bad, city governments are challenged to find ways of raising revenue. But in any circumstances, should people of modest means be uprooted via this law by those "with disproportionate influence and power in the political process," as dissenting Justice Sandra Day O'Connor characterized the beneficiaries of Kelo vs. the City of New London? Should the amount of taxes you pay affect your Fifth Amendment rights in such matters?

Ask your state representatives and candidates where they stand. It's important for your family, your community and for our country.