Supreme Court Rules Private Property Can be Seized

slew writes "CNN is reporting that the U.S. Supreme Court issued a ruling in a case where a local community seized private houses for commercial development (not public works) under the guise of eminent domain. Needless to say, the little guy loses to the commercial developer this case... "

All your homes are...

[slash76]

All your homes are belong to us.

Woot!!!

[Ooblek]

Now I can finally plow down my two neighbors houses and install my cluster!!!!

Re:relevance in slashdot?

[Anonymous Coward]

He's right! If it doesn't have anything to do with OSX, we don't want to hear about it.
Though, we'd be slight curious if it was stylish and available in off-white colours.

Soviet America

[alvinrod]

It sounds almost as though we can start making Soviet America jokes now instead.

In Soviet America, private property seizes local government.

This is really a sad day.

Re:relevance in slashdot?

[Gyga]

Because our basements are in houses.
--
A sig should be wise.

Re:The day freedom died ..

[Lobo93]

What are you going to do?

Watch Jessica Simpson on MTV.

Re:A day that will live in infamy.

[Mr. Flibble]

It is very difficult to overemphasize quite how evil this ruling is.

No no. It is easy to overemphasize how evil this is:
This ruling will result in the destruction of the sun and the solar system as we know it.

Thanks. I will be here all week.

Re:All your homes are...

[955301]

I think you have a point:

1. Create new Funny Inside Joke moderation
2. filter out the jokes.
3. ???
4. Profit!!!

Excuse me?

[Concern]

That was a cool-headed, nuanced and unbiased interpretation of a political story.

I think you must have the wrong website.

Re:A day that will live in infamy.

[Spunk]

Actually, you won't be here all week. I've convinced the local government to take your house by eminent domain.

Re:bush judges

[OwnedByTwoCats]

In this instance, I have to agree with Rhenquist, Scalia, Thomas, and O'Conner.

Now I need to go take a shower.

Re:bush judges

[Euler]

It's underline markup language. Your browser must not support HTML+ULML extensions. :p

Re:Not as bad as it sounds...

[crazyphilman]

Stylish Punishment:

1. Locate the mayor (or whoever decided that YOUR house was the one to go) and the local representatives of the business that will replace your property;

2. Hog-tie them and bring them to a quiet, abandoned farm outside town.

3. Show them the inflatible kiddie pool full of bull shit you've prepared for them.

4. Stick each one in the bull shit head first, with only their legs sticking out. Wait until the twitching stops, while taking commemorative pictures to show your grandchildren one day.

5. Go home and forget about the whole thing. Pretend to be surprised and delighted when the reporters ask you about it. Remember to smile! Look friendly!

Comment removed

[account_deleted]

Comment removed based on user account deletion

Re:bush judges

[alw53]

William Buckley said he'd rather be governed by the first 200 people in the phone book than by the faculty of Harvard. I agree, although I don't know if I'd want to be governed by AAA Towing Company...

Re:The system could be made much more simple....

[justins]

2) When you declare the value, your house goes onto a website, think of it as the ultimate government ebay. Anyone who wants to can bid, including you. At the end of the auction, the highest bidder (which might be you) gets your home for the specified price, and pays property taxes on the price paid. Obviously the thing should have quite a few warnings so people don't accidentally get outbid, and if you win the auction then you just pay the taxes and you're done, but that's the basic idea.

Stupidest thing I've ever read.

They're all holding out for the highest possible bid, and screwing the city out of a lot of property taxes. Clearly something is rotten there, and if the municipal government strikes back, well, neither side is a saint.

Second stupidest.

Re:Oh yes it is

[DrJimbo]

<tongue=in_cheek>

You need to read the 5th Amendment more closely. It says:

... nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

Since this was clearly a case of taking private property for private use, the 5th Amendment does not apply.

</tongue>

Re:bush judges

[gstoddart]

William Buckley said he'd rather be governed by the first 200 people in the phone book than by the faculty of Harvard. I agree, although I don't know if I'd want to be governed by AAA Towing Company...

Vinnie will be stopping buy to discuss this matter further. =)

Re:Pardon, BUT...

[panaceaa]

The public deserves well designed land use. Well designed land use means decreasing sprawl and its related pollution, and putting office buildings, hotels, and other things that citizens use in places that make sense. So if there's a sprawling residential neighborhood sitting right in the middle of a growing urban area, the public deserves it to be replaced with something that makes sense for the people.

The SCOTUS just declared that the local governments in areas like I mentioned should have the right to make those kinds of decisions. It doesn't mean that Walmart can take any land it wants.

I salute this decision. It's one more step towards reducing sprawl!

Public good according to Fat Bastard principles.

[Anonymous Coward]

I just decided to write the below story for everyone. Started writing 9:30PM PST and the postmark will conclude how quick a similar fiction can be manufactured. Onward, though Fat Bastard!

Fat Bastard is walking. There is a huge zoo between him and his destination. The only problem is the zoo is five square miles of territory. The zoo is full of dangerous animals, including ticket-witches demanding you pay $50 just to walk through and not to look. Fat Bastard is overweight; he has a heart disorder, there are dangerous zoo animals in his way, he can't walk all the way around this hog-leg designed zoo, and decides to claim Eminent Domain.

He first tumbles through the slave processors demanding money to see the hidden delights of smelly animals eating food in cages: Woooo, ahhhh! Dangerous animals! Fat Bastard proclaims that the only way to rid the danger to the public good, is eat the dangerous animals. "Get in my bellayyy", yells Fat Bastard. Zoo keepers run to the gruesome scene, angry, and demanding then "Unhand our monkies! No, not the penguins too! Nooo!" In a frantic fray of undelight, the animals are declared dangersous and one at a time are cooked on a gas lamp and smuggled into the manifolds of intestinal fortitude within Fat Bastard. "These monkies could be carriers of HIV", mumbles Fat Bastard. In a last resort, acknowledging defeat, the Zoo keepers yell "We'll be back with lawyers" and flee to the Administration OFFICES.

Fat Bastard at this moment is finishing off the Polar Bears and is moving to the Lions den when in come the Lawyers. "What's this we hear about you having Eminent Domain on Our Zoo?" ask the Lawyers. Fat Bastard plays a quick toot on his bagpipes as intermission, then cheers, "This place is dangerous to the public good." "Where's the warrant?", ascert the Lawyers. Fat Bastard cheers, "I declared Eminent Domain on the paper it was written on, how do you suppose I got the kindling to smoke my cheese?" The Lawyers meet the same fate as the Lions...

Fat Bastard doesn't take his time walking through, knowing the U.S. Marshals could arrive any moment. He's at the rear gate, when standing between him and the exit from the Zoo is ... Goatse man. "Is that where may baby whent?", asked Fat Bastard, but it was too late (strikes "The Pose"). Faster than Linus Torvalds can type "killall -TERM mozilla" that giant eyeless cranium reared its face and begin its squinting match with Fat Bastard. "I'm gonna eat yuh if you don't quit staring", yelled Fat Bastard.

GS "What?"
FB "Stop that now!"
GS "Stop What?"
FB "Doing that!"
GS "What?"
FB "I said that!"
GS "And I said What!"
FB "Hello are you listening to me?!"
GS "Hello to you too!"

Fat Bastard is pouting mad, sweating like a pig, and yells "EMINENT DOMAIN ON GOATSE!" The Goatse man didn't mind. It's happened to him before. "What aren't you afraid yet, assman?" asked Fat Bastard. Then smirks Goatse, "The last man that asked if I was afraid, I had him pull my finger." At that verry moment, Fat Bastard reached into the grips of the gaper and pulled a finger. And out came "Rob Malda". "Oh will you look at that, it's my baby!" and they all go home.

THE END

or is it? (10:09PM PST)