John Boehner, June 24, 2005

According to the Supreme Court, your property is only your property so long as the government wants it to be. This was the result of the recent Kelo v. City of New London decision in which the Court confirmed the broad expansion of "eminent domain" powers exercised by local governments in recent years. In doing so it turned its back on America’s long-held belief in the "security of property," and propped open the door for more abuse.

The City of New London, Connecticut created a non-profit organization that seized private land for the purpose of giving it to somebody else in an attempt to improve the local economy. Some area residents refused to be pushed off their property and took the city to court. In the majority opinion, Justices Stevens argued that New London’s actions were "justified by economic development." What he means is if your township thinks it has a better plan for your land than you do, it can force you out and pay you off.

The Fifth Amendment to the Constitution provides the basis for eminent domain power. It says, "private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation." Our Founding Fathers acknowledged eminent domain as a necessary tool. But its place in the Bill of Rights can only mean it was a check on the power of government -- not a jumping off point.

Eminent domain has historically enabled local governments to seize land, pay the owner an appropriate amount, and put it to genuine public use. Streets, railroads, schools, and courthouses are examples of what would be considered for "public use."

Justice Thomas points out in the dissent that "public use" was intended to cover actual public ownership or at least a legal right of access by the public -- not a speculative benefit gleaned from a vague promise or purpose (as in New London’s case), but actual use. The limitation on eminent domain has always been that the government couldn’t simply - forcibly - take property from one person and give it another.

Not so anymore, as long as there is "economic development" to be had.

The Kelo decision merely confirmed a depressing trend where those who think "government knows best" gain and property rights yield. The New York State Supreme Court forced a man off of property his family had owned for more than a hundred years to make way for the new headquarters of the New York Times. Many cities in Ohio are moving residents around the map in the name of "economic development" too, be it a shopping mall or a new factory.

The Institute for Justice, which represented the New London residents in court, released a study showing some 10,000 cases between 1998 and 2002 where local governments in 41 states used or threatened to use eminent domain to take property from one private owner and give it to another.

John Adams once said, "The moment that the idea is admitted into society that property is not as sacred as the Laws of God, and that there is not a force of law and public justice to protect it, anarchy and tyranny commence. Property must be sacred or liberty cannot exist." The Supreme Court came to a different conclusion: government can take whatever it wants if it demonstrates that it might be able to boost its revenue by doing so. And any company with enough political clout can muscle its way onto prime real estate with help from the local government.

In her dissent, Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote: "Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random.

"The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more."

The Constitution is the very definition of what government may or may not do, and its meaning has been stretched to a perverse extent. Whereas it was originally meant to restrain government, the Supreme Court has taken us in the opposite direction. The Founders could never have imagined such an expansive view of eminent domain as the one confirmed by the Court in Kelo.

Congressman John Boehner, a Republican, represents Ohio's Eighth Congressional District, which includes Miami, Butler, Preble, Darke, and Mercer Counties.