Little Pink House

Is your property… yours? Not if the government takes it.
Susette Kelo bought a run-down home. She fixed it up and painted it pink. Then the government came and took it.
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"Eminent Domain" has long allowed politicians to grab your property to build roads, railroad tracks, a border wall--anything they claim is for "public use." But they wanted Kelo's house so they could give the property to a private developer. Is that right?
Susette fought for her home, all the way to the Supreme Court.
Eventually she lost her case, and her home.
The movie, "The Little Pink House," is a good reminder of just how powerful, and wrong, politicians often are.

[@georgeaswipe5031]

As an attorney, this was one of the worst U.S. Supreme Court rulings in the last two decades. A commercial development was not a public use.

[@occamsshavecream4541]

Exactly! It is obvious a small group of people thought they would profit from this decision. This happens in larger cities frequently, but it was much more apparent in a smaller place and kudos to the owner for fighting it. What a sad story.

[@user-sp1gw8gz3o]

Thank you for that. I was wondering how that’s allowed. A major highway development is an entirely different situation

[@jamesjohnston9225]

IKR!

[@jimwerther]

​@@user-sp1gw8gz3o Kelo v. New London (2005) is famous as one of the worst Supreme Court decisions ever. It was the five left-wing justices who made it happen.

[@kouta43210]

Shouldn't be allowed for public use either. It's private property and they didn't want to sell.

[@python357magnum100]

It is hard to imagine a more stupid or more dangerous way of making decisions than by putting those decisions in the hands of people who pay no price for being wrong. Thomas Sowell

[@mtamech535]

A genius that spoke with simple terms that even a fooI could understand.

[@user-ek9vo2ub9b]

What's worse is being too chicken$h*t to do anything about it. But, hey, what do I know.

[@darrennew8211]

Also called "skin in the game." I think there's a whole book about it, that I wouldn't recommend because it's tritely obvious to anyone with half a brain.

[@elimgarak1127]

Reasons why I've always said only contributors should be allowed to vote. Government handout junkies shouldn't have any voting rights. They have to vote against their free shit, or for more free shit. That doesn't work in a healthy system.

[@johncollins3309]

Being wrong is not the worst thing that can happen. Being un-accountable is.

[@david.d.calvache5082]

You work for 40yrs to have $1m in your retirement, while some people are putting just $10k in a meme coin for just few months and become multi millionaires

[@akunyoutube09]

This must be an investment with Mr Larry Marshall

[@lazyas8016]

Exactly Investing rightly today can save you a whole lot of stress in the nearest future

[@PerlaJuarez539]

Wow, that's really nice! But how did you manage to achieve all that even with the current economy that's very bad? please I'll appreciate your assistance on how to go about it, I'm desperately looking for a way to pay up my debts and also achieve my goals.

[@thomasschlund]

Larry Marshall is the only reason why I have gotten this far in building my finance and also my portfolio to this extent

[@gadopilo]

Bitcoin is the best coin to invest in fast rising and if you are lucky to have a good broker then I believe you have absolutely nothing to worry about because you are in for a final uplift

[@RoseKindred]

This happened several times in my town. Everytime the plans "fell through" so nothing was done with the lots except clearing them.

[@CVSoprano]

One of the WORST rulings to ever come from the Supreme Court.

[@rob1788]

I thought killing millions of unborn babies was the worst decision but yea tearing down a house is much worse than attempted genocide

[@reasonablespeculation3893]

Eminent Domain is a valuable and powerful tool, intended to be used for the Public Good. Such use can disrupt the lives, and cause emotional stress to individual property owners. Ideally the property owner is justly (subjective though it may be) compensated,,,, and the process is only used where benefit to the public is high, and other options are illogical. The use of Eminent Domain is painful, but sometimes, necessary.

[@roses2155]

There is nothing in the Constitution to limiting Eminent Domain. The Supreme Courts' majority didn't find any language precluding it. As such, it up to the voters and their representatives to control its use, as was noted in this report. It's up to people to decide what their laws and limits will be. Relying on SCOTUS to be social justice warriors is stupid, dangerous, and absolves legislatures from taking responsibility to their idiocy.

[@stevebabiak6997]

@@reasonablespeculation3893 - the problem in this instance is that there has been NO public good that has come from this. In fact, vacant land produces less in property taxes than land that has buildings, so the public has actually been harmed in this instance.

[@workingcountry1776]

@@reasonablespeculation3893 destroying a neighborhood on a river to put in an industrial site is not one of those good uses. Buying those houses up to build better levies to save lives in the next flood, as they've done here in NY, is good.

[@hadrianwall9157]

I think it is pretty apparent that we need to reign these politicians in. They have given themselves way too much power.

[@onieyoh9478]

No. The people gave them too much power by electing the same scum over and over because people were to busy "just grillin man."

[@rockyroad7345]

"Rein". Reign means "rule"....the opposite of what needs to be done.

[@timkopp2204]

​@rockyroad7345 let's start with term limits.

[@hadrianwall9157]

@@rockyroad7345 Thanks.....fkn auto-correct....🙄

[@stacysilverman6366]

I agree except that it's rein.

[@ericwall872]

I remember John Stossel when I was a kid. I’ve watched him over the years on Fox News, and now on KZbin every once in an awhile. He is insanely consistent. You are the man Mr. Stossel. Thank you, and Happy New Year.

[@strong40]

He was on abc news. 20/20

[@blakecampbell6549]

This one supreme court ruling nullified property rights, unless you were rich.

[@gillianmurphy2111]

.... And I'm forever paying property tax based on govts 'fair value assessment' for a fully paid for house.

[@WhistlesToAnimals]

And school tax, and food for other people's kids in school, and in the cases of many owner occupied buildings, you're not even guaranteed to get rent from the tenants, even the squatters will have more rights than you. I'm a landlord in the worst state possible, in the house I grew up in. Freedom my ass.

[@lisashoemaker9037]

Pennsylvania, where I live, they are talking about reassessment. The house is almost 50 years old. Taxes go up every year. As the saying goes, "the only sure thing in life is death and taxes. Paid as much in taxes as what the house cost new.

[@TheSimba86]

which is why you never really own your home, you pay someone for it but you still have to pay rent to the government

[@jdwyer4851]

We just need to redefine "Freedom" so it will still apply.

[@CrizzyEyes]

In fairness, at least here in Texas, the assessment of a home for taxes drastically undershoots the real market value.

[@seanpalmer6639]

Is that why they so strongly want to abolish the 2nd amendment?

[@mrb152]

Sam group of justices too. Conservatives dissented in Kelo but thankfully were the majority in heller.

[@HollyMoore-wo2mh]

Exactly.

[@pawnzrtasty]

They still did it with the second amendment active though… the vast majority don’t even own a house or property. A gun is to protect you from imminent danger it will not protect you from bureaucracy.

[@MutarFuqueer]

They know without the second amendment, all others fall like dominos.

[@joshhigdon4951]

One reason.

[@tranquilb1]

It shows how corrupt the system can get when money is offered , I'd say the local bodies would have got kickbacks for their decision

[@paper_gem]

Politicians are a bunch of crooks.

[@Kilgore6549]

I love the part where you said the politicians were wrong. They’re always wrong.

[@jamese9283]

Are you an anarchist?

[@user-tr1mf5qb1i]

@@jamese9283 I support the abolishment of the government. That is not the same as anarchy. Think of the Amish. They have no leadership or police but they are far from what I would call anarchist.

[@mattrex8599]

And we the people will never do anything about that.

[@bliglum]

They're not always wrong. The rulings to force car companies to comply with safety standards was undeniably beneficial. They're not not always right, and this is clear big Gov overreach.

[@frotobaggins7169]

The USSC was wrong as is frequently the case.

[@eprofessio]

The worst thing is what I call “tax encroachment” where they take you house for property taxes and sell it. Property tax should be illegal.

[@jamese9283]

Property tax pays for government services. If you abolish it, other taxes will be raised.

[@frosty3693]

The sad thing about some governments is that some have seized property for non payment of taxes, sold the property and kept all the money not just the back taxes owed. The owners had to sue the city to get their share of the money.

[@user-tr1mf5qb1i]

Taxation is theft.

[@user-tr1mf5qb1i]

@@jamese9283 I oppose government services.

[@aryaprincess2479]

@@jamese9283 OK then how about we close those government services and stop paying for them? We need less government taking our properties for their rich friends.

[@SonsofIssac]

I had a friend whose family owned a business right on a 4 way intersection downtown. Great location. The business had been owned by his family since I was a kid. The city council decided they would take the property and use it to re-make the intersection for better traffic flow. They gave my friend’s family pennies on the dollar for the property, tore down the building and never did anything with the intersection. It’s been over 10 years now

[@Area-ty2oq]

Everybody's home in America would be in jeopardy. From my perspective, any residence converted to commercial is going to increase the value of the land, and result in increased tax collected by government. I had always understood (as a former CA realtor) it was associated only with property in the physical path of, such as: railroads, roads, bridges or something that would eventually be public property accessible by the public. Hotels, etc. does not sound like eminent domain. This is government overreach. Great coverage Stossel!

[@Thinking-Through]

Just don't pay property taxes and see how fast they take your land and house. Contrary to the US Constitution, we cannot own property. We just rent it.

[@markae0]

When you die you can't take it with you, but you might leave it to your family.

[@V0YAG3R]

@@markae0 Yeah, leave them land, property and other taxes, what a lovely deal! 👌🏻

[@user-sp1gw8gz3o]

Exactly. We are all just poor renters

[@workingcountry1776]

@@markae0 and they will tax the crap out of it again even if its paid for.

[@ShadowsandCityLights]

We already own nothing and we are happy, because people think they own it. False sense of security.

[@CCoburn3]

The problem is that governments think of their citizens as economic units instead of people. A citizen is someone who generates money for politicians to spend -- not people who OWN the government.

[@OldSaltyBear]

exactly!

[@septembersurprise5178]

"That's the difference between governments and individuals. Governments don't care, individuals do." - Mark Twain

[@skydivingcomrade1648]

I'd say if a person is going to be displaced from land they don't want to leave then it must be done with a jury, 10 times the market value to the victim and if the promised replacement doesn't happen in 5 years the property reverts to the previous owner and that person cannot be taxed on any of funds/land/property involved for life. Make the gamble extremely risky.

[@knightwolfpro4494]

ED should never be used to take away from a private citizen to give to a corporate entitty.

[@mattbarrett41]

An elected legislature can trample a person’s rights as easily a King.

[@septembersurprise5178]

Concerning legislatures, "...it's so hard to find men of a so high type of morals that they'll stay bought." - Mark Twain

[@benmills9693]

This from the same Captain Benjamin Martin whose fury was so famous during the Wilderness Campaign !

[@bamaraiderable]

Uh, no. The legislators have to propose legislation and debate it and inform the public of the proposed legislation. A king has to do none of that.

[@swilliams937]

@bamaraiderable, so the legislators take a few more steps. You're a fool. At least there's no pretense with the king.

[@bamaraiderable]

@@swilliams937 It's not just a "a few more steps." At least not in America. The House and Senate have to study any legislation, pass it, send it to the other side for debate, agree on a compromise, and then send it to the President. This is light years away from a dictator.

[@mattmurdock5424]

Man, imagine the government forces you out of your house, pays you not nearly what it’s valued at, bulldozes it and just leaves it as an empty lot

[@teri03]

I think they were just punking her for putting up a fight.

[@garybuller7123]

I would be nervous about building a new business there. After all that publicity there could be boycotting.

[@ObeyNoLies]

@@garybuller7123Blame the victim.

[@garybuller7123]

@@ObeyNoLies What are you babbling about? Never even mentioned the lady who lost her house.

[@ObeyNoLies]

@@garybuller71232+2=4

[@wmlwatercamping]

The politicians should be required to go build that development by hand and live on that land until it's complete.

[@jamesjohnston9225]

John, I'm perplexed. Are we supposed to hit the Like button if we dislike these kind of Land Grabs? I mean, I did hit the Like button, but this topic infuriates me. I saw people lose entire farms that have been in their families for over 100 years in the Kansas City, KS area several years ago. For what? Rails? Roads? No, for a Nascar track, Cabela's, a bunch of retaurants and shopping. I would hazard a guess that the "fair value" that was forced upon the farmers was not anywhere close to the "fair value" of the property today. SMH

[@jamesjohnston9225]

@magpie9208 Well thank you and I already knew that. Was just trying to emphasize the point I was making in the rest of the comment. And now, with our short interaction, we're helping John out even more! ✌

[@HerbaMachina]

I feel like Suzanne should be entitled to sue the government for fraud, since the government clearly abused inmite domain laws for something they never ended up following through on. In such cases the government should not be required to give the land back to the original owners but should be required to build back exactly what they tore down and pay the person at least 10x what the property they stole from was. That's just insanse that they took her property for something that never even got built.

[@ACogloc]

If that becomes law they'll just built the cheapest possible "public utility building" and say it was justified, that's an arms race. On the other hand, I'm sure there are many anecdotes of landowners being unreasonable and incurring unimaginable losses to the public by refusing to move. It's a complex subject... Ideally it should just be in the local laws and unrepealable so you can't say you didn't know this could happen. That's the libertarian take: just have it written in the land purchase contract. Not okay with you? Feel free to buy somewhere else where this clause doesn't exist, it's the free market.

[@bernibeckmann9753]

Yes, I want the government to spend my tax contributions x 10 to cover it's mistake because I'm thinking with my feelings and there's no possible way that payout system could be scammed. Nobody could possibly come up with the idea to have city council "expropriate" a whole neighbourhood with a kickback scheme where each home is worth $4million instead of $400K. Dodged a bullet there!

[@earthboundmisfit7654]

It should be paid for out of their personal pockets so they might think twice before acting like a tyrant.

[@workingcountry1776]

Best comment but ppl got jobs in other cities by now. It would never be the same.

[@goodolearkygal5746]

I was renting a beautiful little home, the city came and took it for the school. It was next to the school. 10yrs later it is an overgrown field with one soccer net in the weeds.

[@kevinclause4p55p5]

Property tax means you pay rent to the government.

[@selwynthegreat3748]

Politicians were wrong?! I'm shocked, shocked I tell ya!

[@Zach-sg5uu]

How can they tear down homes & not even do anything with the land they need to be sued again! This world is depressing & Ridiculous!!

[@MrTrailerman2]

It is sad for all that lost their homes that were paying taxes.. now, no taxes are being collected from this gross miscarriage of justice.

[@Strideo1]

It just shows how wrong the Supreme Court ruling was. This was never a "public good". The public has only been harmed.

[@DataJuggler]

Not to mention the "Fair Market Value" they most likely borrowed money to pay, so they have to pay interest instead of the tax revenue they used to receive.

[@arepadetrigo]

The Citizens should exercise "Eminent Domain" over the government. At the very least, the law should state that the owner MUST be reimbursed TWICE the fair market value as determined by independent real estate professionals. Maybe three times. That would take the sting out of being forced to give up private property and it would throttle the greed and ambition of elected officials. What is wrong with Americans who cannot agree to this?????

[@doug1124816]

I was thinking something similar. A multiple of either the fair market value or the expected value after transformation, whichever is greater. Also, the right of the current owner to buy back property for original value after 10 years if development is not completed.

[@DarthArtoo4]

Where is that money coming from though? I agree it’s more fair for the homeowner, but we can’t just throw money around like it’s nothing. We’re already tens of trillions of dollars in debt federally.

[@Eukatae]

@@DarthArtoo4 Don't worry we can just print it. Nothing bad can come from that.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

With a further stipulation that a failure to develop the land as promised, within a reasonable time (let's say 10 years) that the government loses any immunity from lawsuits and can be sued by the displaced property owners for a breach of contract.

[@zonked1200]

@@DarthArtoo4 Where does that money come from now? If a city takes someone's home, they are using money from their budget. They shouldn't be able to just pick a number out of the air for how much to pay for the property. If they can't afford to pay for someone's house fairly, they shouldn't be taking the property.

[@commerce-usa]

In situations like this, the politicians and special interest groups promoting these boondoggles should be held personally liable for the damages they caused.

[@davidwhelan8550]

The people who did this should be open to being sued personally. These folks lost their homes against their will, they should have recourse.

[@shalashaska9946]

Should try and interview the guy from the local government again and say "do you regret what you said now that you never built anything there"

[@scottmccombs2012]

Keep up the honest reporting John!! We need brave truth tellers, especially these days.

[@pepperpeterpiperpickled9805]

In Australia, some greedy SOBs wanted to sink a warship off the coast of Avoca Beach. They said "it'll be good for tourism, marine life/coral, etc..." activist groups said it didnt have the lead paint taken off it and that it would break apart after a few storms. It sunk. The activists were right; chunks of metal washed ashore after a big storm.

[@freiermann7]

Happened to a family member of mine. Business was worth about 6 million bucks but since it was going to be turned into a road and no longer worth anything the government offered 300k. They fought over a year battle and ended up with 1 million except you don’t just get it, it goes into a government account you have to pay very expensive lawyers to get into. So in the end his $6 million business got him $300k in his pocket and several years of the stress of fighting the government. These laws need to be removed. It’s criminal, and you know how criminals should be treated…

[@yarisygatos]

Lawyers kept $700k of his $ 1 million? So, how much would he have received if he accepted the initial offer of 300k, 90k?

[@freiermann7]

@@yarisygatos Court fees, lawyer fees, filing fees, fees upon fees adds up over the course of a couple years.

[@triskaidekathirteen724]

Property tax is a criminal offense!

[@rinima858]

So much promised, so little delivered. The story of every politician

[@ambitionroad]

I was born in New London and remember this story vividly as well as your coverage of it. Thank you for highlighting it again John!

[@robertshank8412]

Politicians are usually long gone by the time we see the full results of their terrible decisions. You have to wonder how they live with themselves.

[@yarisygatos]

They never live scot-free, and karma catches up to them. "The sins of the father." We have a clear example of that right now.

[@biancagerade4229]

Wasteful stupid Politicians 😡

[@susankrahling6326]

The people who lost their house it should now be able to sue since the government failed do what they said. It’s truly sad.

[@occamsshavecream4541]

It is indeed very sad, considering how difficult it can be to own a home. I wonder if it could actually be done--sue them.

[@genericdude6551]

Amazing that this is allowed to happen.

[@randymack2222]

Reminds me of the old story about politicians being like a diaper. They both need changing often, and for the same reasons!

[@davidguthrie5941]

Nope. Stop paying property taxes and see how fast you don't own your house.

[@ledzeppelin1212]

Haha, truth!

[@user-tr1mf5qb1i]

@@earthboundmisfit7654 I think if we are going to pay taxes everyone should pay the same amount regardless of income.

[@thelasttaarakian]

It would take decades. They put a lien on the house though for whenever you sell it.

[@wrongthinker843]

@@user-tr1mf5qb1i You couldn't keep yourself from lying for even two words, huh?

[@user-tr1mf5qb1i]

@@wrongthinker843 ?

[@Timeisirrelevant]

Had that happened near me. Totally unfair. They said they would expand an airport. Forced people to sell. Then they sold it to a housing developer that put up a ton of McMansions. Total overreach of power. The money they gave those people was a pittance. It was all for more homes on postage sized pieces of land. The old ones were homes on acres of land.

[@teri03]

They’re getting good at being evil.

[@Comet-hn3gm]

If a commercial development is so critical to the public, then put it farther out and allow people to build new housing developments around it. That would increase their wanted tax revenue. What a bunch of scoundrels, power mongers and scammers. All of the people that did this to her and all of the others should be compensating them 10 times over maybe more. How sad !!!

[@reynoldrosa]

Too bad she doesn't have further legal recourse. It's insane that the city did all of that and they didn't even have a developer in place to develop the property. They just evicted everyone for nothing, and everyone, especially the property owners and taxpayers lost. The city should face some kind of penalty for that. I hope the politicians that made those decisions got voted out of office.

[@MediaBuster]

Government should be required to pay DOUBLE the fair market value.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

And the fair market value should be determined by an independent third party.

[@joeyg2860]

Plus generous relocation costs.

[@jfree336]

Triple just like in RICO cases

[@joeyg2860]

@@jfree336 Well said.

[@raymondpetrovits2336]

I live in Connecticut and vividly remember the decision to destroy a neighborhood by eminent domain. It frightened many citizens around the State making people unsure of the sanctity or safety of their homes or property. New London got it wrong and didn’t apologize for their error.

[@RocketmanRockyMatrix]

Pfizer decided last minute to cancel the project. New London dropped the bomb on this decision.

[@TEverettReynolds]

Really? Guess you didn't live there in the 1950s? How do you think all those highways, stadiums, malls, skyscrapers, and airports got built? Rt 95 goes right up your state. The government always took low private property and turned it into high tax-paying private property under the guise of "urban renewal." At least now, the court admitted it.

[@raymondpetrovits2336]

@@TEverettReynolds I’m 70 years old. I remember parts of the interstate system being built. With the influx of up to 30 million illegals flooding my Country, eminent domain and seizing of land becomes a real threat to land owners. I live on a farm with acreage. I shouldn’t have to give up my lifestyle for illegals to occupy anybodys property.

[@anthonycordovano2438]

What taxes does I-95 pay? ​@@TEverettReynolds

[@saltyyankee5149]

@@TEverettReynolds my family property was plowed under to build 95, a road that millions travel on. It broke my grandparent's heart, but it's not quite the same as the rich Democrats in Connecticut wielding their power to assist Pfizer in it's expansion over private homes. That was Suzette's family home, not just something random, and it wasn't for a 'common good' but to pay off donors to the democrat party.

[@janofb]

One of the major blunders of the Supreme Court.

[@clvrswine]

Name one other blunder. I doubt you can. Keyboard Warrior.

[@stormisuedonym4599]

@@clvrswine Like Roe v. Wade? Or the Dredd Scott decision?

[@Cyrx686]

God bless John Stossel. Thank you for your continued service and desire to bring truth and value to the ones who choose to listen. I really appreciate you!

[@davidahlstrom7533]

Another great segment by John Stossel. I hope he keeps going for many more years.

[@stephendintino6076]

Eliminate all property taxes and replace with consumer tax.

[@kpdvw]

No taking without proper compensation;..NO exceptions!

[@stickybuns8626]

That the property still lies vacant makes it extra evil.

[@Godsangel124]

How evil!!! Tearing down people's lives & memories to just leave the land in shambles

[@HollyMoore-wo2mh]

13 years later and it’s still empty? Take it to court and sue the lot of them.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Sue them for *_a lot._* Pun intended.

[@scottm8579]

Who are you suing? The Supreme Court? Good luck.

[@HollyMoore-wo2mh]

@@scottm8579 City council. and YES I would wish her good luck. Remember - lots of taxes was why it was destroyed? Kinda hard to have taxes from an empty lot.

[@michaeljames8408]

I take it you have never been in a law suit before... You act like everybody has $250,000 dollars set aside for this Purpose,, lol...

[@Demonic_Culture_Nut]

@@michaeljames8408 She could probably get quintuple þat via crowdfunding. All she'd need to do is reach out to people like Mr. Stossel.

[@danielbuckman2727]

We human beings are slowly becoming a united collective. The government should act like an immune system. When it malfunctions there should be consequences.

[@socalsilver6397]

What a lovely thing to do by our caring politicians

[@ThailandTerry2024]

Politicians are often wrong but of course they seldom admit it 😡 …

[@dbmn7571]

and the politicians are wrong again for not admitting they're wrong...😂

[@septembersurprise5178]

If by seldom you mean never, I would agree.

[@methag-mm1he]

A way to stop such abuse by government is to make the lawmakers personally responsible for failures such as what happened there, then they would think twice about the laws they make.

[@Mereologist]

Another is to simply limit what they can do to the absolute minimum necessary. The less power they have the less power they can abuse. A third solution is to figure out some way to assure that everyone who runs for office is a person of integrity and values, but I have no idea how you could accomplish that.

[@methag-mm1he]

@@Mereologist that's the problem we have, not many honorable people run for office, so we are left with slick talking people who tell a good story but deliver crap, and sadly they get reelected time after time by voters who pay no attention to what those folks have done.

[@Mereologist]

@@methag-mm1he Not just us. Pretty much every government everywhere has this problem. Even the Papacy was bought by the Borgias who ran the Catholic Church like their own person tyranny. If any group anywhere has solved the problem of picking only the best people to run things, I would really like to hear about it. We've got thousands of years of frustration by now!

[@methag-mm1he]

@@Mereologist very true, it's all part of the "Build Back Better" aka, "One World Order" agenda going on today.

[@--_--IMP--_--]

@@methag-mm1he While there is truth to what you are saying, plenty of honorable people run for office, and even get elected. Many people with noble ideals and goals have thrown their hats in the ring over time. The problem is that honorable people don't last very long in the complex and often uncomfortably ugly world of politics, while the dishonest ones are comfortable there and usually find ways to make careers of it.

[@billyrowland503]

Keep spreading the truth John. Thank you.

[@dort5436]

Thank you Sandra Day for voting for this. Congress needs to pass a law to define what is public use. The courts shouldn't have that power

[@me-qx2rp]

Makes my blood boil when I hear about these abuses of power. And then to leave i vacant is a kick in the teeth...

[@YT0091]

This is how people end up getting hurt. You push someone to the brink by taking their house with promises something better for the community will replace it, then NOTHING HAPPENS. This scenario puts people in an unnecessary unhealthy state. When they snap, the government is going to be like "Oh, they were violent and had mental issues." Who the hell do you think created that?!

[@snarfsnaf69]

Didn’t Childish Gambino have a song about this? This is America 🇺🇸 Just pay your taxes till u die. Own nothing and be happy!!! Now move along slave… I mean proud citizen 😢

[@heathb4319]

"When you push good people to the point they no longer give a damn, you have messed up" Would someone please tell me where that point is though...cuzz i swear we passed it a long time ago.

[@majermike]

reminds me of covid lockdowns, great for public health except for the skyrocketing suicides and other health issues

[@TL-vp8uh]

100%

[@DrukenReaps]

They didn't even do anything with the land after? Jesus Christ.... That deserves a special kind of hell.

[@TickedOffPriest]

Emminent Domain is like taxation, both are robbery.

[@SouthFloridasRestaurantGuy]

I’m from the government and i am here to help

[@islandbee]

When I first saw the title I thought about the John Mellencamp song Little Pink Houses.

[@massspecguy8538]

“ …. a good reminder of just how powerful and wrong politicians often are. “ Oh so very TRUE … unfortunately!

[@slchambers1]

I don’t think anything has been built in New London Ct. after they stole those peoples homes.

[@Oldhogleg]

And because of qualified immunity, the politicians/officials can't be sued/prosecuted for misappropriation of funds/sweetheart deals for developers.

[@Eidolon1andOnly]

Qualified immunity is for lower level government officers such as police. What we're looking at here is more akin to either Sovereign, Municipal, or Official immunities, or a combination of such.

[@Oldhogleg]

@@Eidolon1andOnly I meant the qualified immunity protection as chartered corporate entities. All governments, agencies and departments are their own chartered corporate entities, and therefore are actually private businesses. This transformation slowly began after our founding.

[@occamsshavecream4541]

So many beautiful older, smaller cities in the U.S. have been butchered to profit those in city hall. The northeastern U.S. is rife with cities like this.

[@heathb4319]

Well there is always a 2nd way to hold them accountable.

[@Oldhogleg]

@@heathb4319 Of course, but that requires the actions of a well educated, intelligent, moral and emotionally mature population, something that no longer exists. Instead all we have is a nation of brainwashed PC Karens that couldn't find their rear ends with both hands saving the world from illegal wrong think.

[@apollomoon1]

They’re always wrong, just to what degree is the question.

[@icuinthelight]

Build her house back and have the politicians and lawyers pay for it...

[@matthewp5472]

Man, that is infuriating. How can they take someone's land and then not even use it for something... absurd ruling by the "Supreme Court".

[@mrzoso4940]

My morning cup of Stossel! ❤

[@pamelagascoyne9546]

Basically they cut their own throats. No houses, no tax money. No business center, no tax money. Guess they had to raise property taxes on their own homes.

[@ironcityblue]

Imminent domain is no longer necessary and needs to be banned. Same for civil asset forfeiture and cops who attempt it should be immediately charged with crimes.

[@originDogStar]

It's modern purpose is for land owners who own to much land, to open up new land grabs for the ever multiplying population.

[@garywarren1027]

They should change the words of free America to limited freedom of America !! As I have said before the evils of power and greed is all we have in politicians .

[@Consul99]

I think it should be permissible for large federal public infrastructure that has no other route. But a cities' "business development" serves no public interest. Only the interest of oligarchs and political cronies.

[@dr.kevorkian7535]

Eminent domain and property tax are the 2 ways goverment makes sure you never actually own land. It's all just leased to you through taxes.

[@davidcox3076]

The courts have generally been very lenient with cases concerning local planning and zoning. The unwritten understanding is that local governments know their own towns best. However, in the case of eminent domain, the process is easily corrupted. And it's not just the taking of private property. As John points out here, the private developers aren't always successful in bringing a project to fruition. The city wanted higher tax revenues. So they took relatively low-tax residential and traded it for the potential of higher-tax commercial. And wound up with neither. The states really should have put some restrictions in their eminent domain statutes. But they didn't, so the SC had to rule. And they dropped the ball.

[@boomsing88]

I live in Groton right across the river from New London.I remember all the BS over the property.Govt has to much power and should be stopped.

[@benniepetrey]

Back in the 60s Toledo Ohio leveled the Ironton neighborhood, with the same result. Thriving working class neighborhood destroyed with a promise of industrial development which 60 years later still hasn't materialize.

[@Columbus1152]

I know New London well, and it's seething with corruption because there's huge money involved. The decisions made are influenced by a nearby Naval base, a major pharmaceutical manufacturer, and a defense contractor. Regardless of eminent domain laws, those with the most money will always win.

[@arizonafuelmanagement3573]

We have oversight forced on our police and fire but not on our politicians... INSANITY!

[@White000Crow]

There is such a lack of accountability for the government it’s ridiculous.

[@jamesmcd71]

It's the single biggest disappointment I have in the citizens of the United States. The entire purpose for the US is a limited government. But sometimes, around 1950, people started wanting more government. In all fairness, they thought the growth of the gov was controllable even though there were thousands of years of evidence it can't be. By 1970 it was obvious the Gov was growing beyond the control of the Constitution. So the voters rejected the socialist for the small government conservative. And things started improving at a drastic speed. But unfortunately the people said we are doing so well now we can start up new social spending. But the difference is now gov is scared of the voters so things must be changed so a challenge to gov power can never happen again. Now, you can't do anything without federal government control over you.

[@UtubeH8tr]

That's why the second amendment holds strong. That and being friends with your neighbors.

[@drm9979]

“we’re from the government and we’re here to help.”.

[@alpine1600s]

The accountability for corrupt politicians is sorely lacking. Those criminals should be in jail or fined for the entire estimated tax sum.

[@peterbrunsgaard2012]

My favorite journalist! ⚡️⚡️👏👏🙏🙏

[@Gitn2it]

The best journalists are unbiased, uncompromised, and independent.

[@monicaswavel6074]

Abuse of power is out of control.

[@alreadyforgot2386]

Our family was the largest single landowners in what used to be Monticello California. Eminent domain took away our entire family land holdings so they could build Lake Berryessa. Family just disappeared into obscurity after that. To this day we always resent and mistrust the federal government.

[@RP-gi4ch]

How many of the politicians that were involved in taking her house are still in office? If any of them are still in office, then they are not to blame. The voters are!

[@denisegaylord382]

This highlights one of the flaws with our government. In this case: greed. The government was willing to destroy a community, in hopes that the property would be developed into a greater value tax base. In its fight with the owners, the case went to the SCOTUS. Sadly SCOTUS sided with the government. Tragically, the visions the city had, never materialized, resulting in empty lots, lots of lost revenue, and displaced residents. I see this as a cautionary tale about who you elect into office, as well as if you are running for office, you should take a deep look into your character and your commitment to doing the right thing. Our forefathers were adamant that our government cannot function without men and women with high morals and integrity. They were and still are correct.

[@Derideo]

And yet the traitors madly foisted this consolidated beast upon us anyway, knowing full well the nature of man. "It is on a supposition that your American governors shall be honest, that all the good qualities of this government are founded; but its defective and imperfect construction puts it in their power to perpetrate the worst of mischiefs, should they be bad men; and, sir, would not all the world, from the eastern to the western hemisphere, blame our distracted folly in resting our rights upon the contingency of our rulers being good or bad? Show me that age and country where the rights and liberties of the people were placed on the sole chance of their rulers being good men, without a consequent loss of liberty! I say that the loss of that dearest privilege has ever followed, with absolute certainty, every such mad attempt." - Patrick Henry

[@raketensven3127]

Even without this law and laws likewise in other countries, due to stuff like property taxes and mandatory insurances etc., you never owned "your" home/land to begin with.

[@oldfordman68]

I'm in my 50s now but when I was about 3 the city of Bremerton Washington took my parents beach front property using this BS I forgot what they said they wanted to build the kicker in my case is the land they took from my parents is still vacant.

[@ronhamm]

I guarantee some slimly politician’s pocket got lined!!