 |
|
Op-Eds for Publication
Download for publication the op-eds below on eminent domain abuse and the U.S. Supreme Court case Kelo v. City of New London, which was heard on February 22, 2005.
For more information on eminent domain abuse nationwide, see IJ’s report Public Power, Private Gain.
|
Your Home Is Not Your Castle
|
|
By Dana Berliner
560 words
For many, the American Dream means buying a family home after years of saving or building a small business from the ground up. No one imagines the government will take that property only to hand it over to someone else so they can make more money off the land. But it happens all too frequently.
Download Word Document of this op-ed
|
|
|
|
Room Without a View
|
|
By Dana Berliner
705 words
Only rich people deserve a good view. Poor and middle-income people should live in less attractive environments and should preferably live in apartment buildings, not houses. That is the overwhelming message from cities across the country, which are busily confiscating middle-income homes and long-term small businesses in order to transfer that land to developers for high-end housing and chain retail stores.
Download Word Document of this op-ed
|
|
|
|
Government By the Highest Bidder
|
|
By John E. Kramer
496 words
Think your home or your business is your castle? Think again. Nationwide, politically and financially powerful private corporations including Costco, Target and even The New York Times are benefiting from an especially scary form of corporate welfare: state and local governments are taking ordinary citizens’ private property and handing it over to these financial bigwigs for their private use.
Download Word Document of this op-ed
|
|
|
|
Public Power, Private Gain: The Abuse of Eminent Domain
|
|
By Dana Berliner
1652 words
Most people have never heard of “eminent domain,” but they know the government sometimes takes private land for projects the public will own and use, such as a highway or post office. Few people realize, however, that state and local governments routinely take individual homes and businesses to transfer the land to private businesses for private profit.
Download Word Document of this op-ed
|
|
|