US Supreme Court vs. Property Rights

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Everyone is talking about today's US Supreme Court decision allowing the seizure of private property for development purposes, as long as the seizure serves a “public use.” Justice Sandra Day O’Connor's dissention was quite strong:

"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."

Decide what you think about this (or see what the Left and Right are saying)... and then think about how you would react if the same were declared in Chile, Chad or Cambodia?

The full text of the decision is available online.


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