Kelo and Souter's Farm
After the Kelo v New London eminent domain decision this summer, there was a huge backlash against eminent domain abuses and the Supreme Court itself. One of the avenues of attack was an attempt to take Justice Souter's farm property to build a hotel. Todd Zywicki at Volokh has a post concerning the developments regarding the Lost Liberty Hotel.
I totally disagreed with Kelo and that trend in the use of eminent domain to take private property and give it to another private party in the guise of a general "public use." When the hotel idea was brought up, I thought it was a funny attempt to grab media attention about the issue. Now, it looks like they are serious. I think this is going a little overboard. I disagree with Justice Souter's vote in the case, but I don't think that it deserves reprisal. Justice Souter was doing his job to the best of his ability. I think he screwed up, but I don't think he should be personally punished for it. It sets a bad precedent. Judges and Justices should be allowed to do their jobs and not worry about popular opinion. That's why we insulated them from facing election.
Plus, we should keep Souter happy. Hopefully, he'll retire soon to that farm. Taking it from him will just anger him and keep him on the Court for years.
I totally disagreed with Kelo and that trend in the use of eminent domain to take private property and give it to another private party in the guise of a general "public use." When the hotel idea was brought up, I thought it was a funny attempt to grab media attention about the issue. Now, it looks like they are serious. I think this is going a little overboard. I disagree with Justice Souter's vote in the case, but I don't think that it deserves reprisal. Justice Souter was doing his job to the best of his ability. I think he screwed up, but I don't think he should be personally punished for it. It sets a bad precedent. Judges and Justices should be allowed to do their jobs and not worry about popular opinion. That's why we insulated them from facing election.
Plus, we should keep Souter happy. Hopefully, he'll retire soon to that farm. Taking it from him will just anger him and keep him on the Court for years.
Don't piss Souter off. He's only 66, the third youngest Justice on the Court. I'd like to keep him calm and relaxed. The last thing we need is to put a wild hair up his butt about this. He'll stay on the Court for 2 more decades! If he loses the farm, he's got nothing left to lose. He's got nothing to go home to.
Keep him happy and let him ease into retirement. That's the avenue to take.
Posted by
Steve |
11:17 AM
This is not the same as giving in to the Democrats. They are elected. They can be voted out of office. Souter's not going anywhere unless HE chooses to do so. The last thing we need is a young, radicalized Justice on the Court for 20 more years.
Posted by
Steve |
11:59 AM
I think you are going a little overboard. I think that Dred Scott and Korematsu are far worse decisions.
Also, I don't think your disclaimer is going to work. You are already completely IDed on your blog (via that opinion article you wrote for the Trib and linked). I still have a small sliver of privacy, since my last name hasn't been directly attached to my blog. They know who you are.
Also, Prof. McAdams blog is EASILY public enemy number one in MU's eyes. If I'm second, I'm honored.
Posted by
Steve |
1:32 PM
I'm shocked to say this, but you are officially more pissed off about Kelo than I am. The crown is yours. But my point is that I don't want Souter riled up. There have been rumors that he is considering retirement. Tinsley Yarbrough, who recently wrote a book about Souter, has pushed that idea. Souter doesn't like urban DC (he got mugged recently while jogging), he loves his farm, and he gets his full pension as of 2005. O'Connor was also one of his closest friends on the Court. She will be gone in a little over a month. Keep him happy, let him retire in peace soon.
Kelo did bring about something good. It got the public interested and angry about eminent domain abuse. It put pressure on legislatures to enact limits on eminent domain power. It also made Howard Dean look stupid (yet again) when he made this statement, “The president and his right-wing Supreme Court think it is ‘okay’ to have the government take your house if they feel like putting a hotel where your house is.” Number of Bush appointees on the Court for the Kelo decision: zero. Brain cells in Howard Dean's head: zero.
Posted by
Steve |
3:32 PM