Corporate Takings: Why retail giants love eminent domain: The Weekly Standard, 7/26/07
By Duncan Currie IN NOVEMBER 2001, long before the Kelo ruling threw the floodlights on eminent domain abuse, Susan Watson sent a distressed letter to James D. Sinegal, the president and CEO of Costco. She owned several hundred shares in the retail giant–and, as she put it, had been “a loyal customer and ardent fan”… Read more »
Don’t Think Twice, It’s All Blight: Voice of San Diego, 7/18/07
By Nina Peterson-Perlman Wednesday, July 18, 2007 | Grantville’s Friars Road Pet Hospital and National City’s Community Youth Athletic Center, while not gleaming edifices of commercial might, don’t fit the traditional definition of an eyesore. The windows aren’t cracked, the plaster isn’t peeling and they attract concerned pet owners and kids wanting to learn how… Read more »
Dan Walters: A preview of battle on seizure: Sacramento Bee, 7/13/07
By Dan Walters California voters will weigh in next year on “eminent domain,” the quaintly named procedure by which governments seize private property for ostensibly public purposes, and a preview of the forthcoming battle was staged in the Capitol on Thursday. Two Senate committees met back-to-back in the same room and approved a bill that’s… Read more »
Newhall Fears Eminent Domain: The Signal, 7/5/07
By Reina V. Slutske The concept of eminent domain is a scary one – especially to businesses and residents near public projects. Eminent domain is the practice of a government taking a private property, whether business or residential, for public use. Public projects such as roads and schools sometimes require the use of eminent… Read more »
Campaign to Reform Eminent Domain Abuse Kicks Off Signature Gathering: Californians for Property Rights Protection, 7/3/07
Press Release Today, a broad coalition announced it is launching its efforts to begin the signature gathering process to qualify the California Property Owners and Farmland Protection Act (CPOFPA) for the June 2008 ballot. Since the U.S. Supreme Court’s controversial Kelo v. New London decision two years ago, 41 states have enacted eminent domain… Read more »
Eminent domain battle resurfaces in Assembly: San Jose CA Mercury News, 7/1/07
By Steve Lawrence SACRAMENTO—The debate over how much to restrict government’s use of its eminent domain powers to obtain private property for shopping malls and other developments resumes this week in the state Assembly. The Judiciary Committee will consider rival constitutional amendments on Tuesday, one by Assemblyman Hector De La Torre, D-South Gate, and… Read more »
Duh! Traffic stinks. But does anyone really know what to do?: Daily Breeze, 6/29/07
Study ranks California roads among the nation’s worst, so experts offer fixes for clogged roads. By Sue Doyle and Harrison Sheppard California’s drivers are stuck in some of the nation’s worst traffic with state highways that are so clogged, poorly paved and costly to maintain that they rank seventh worst in the nation, according to… Read more »
Battle brews over 405 widening project: Los Angeles Times, 6/17/07
By Rong-Gong Lin II Battle brews over 405 widening projectResidents along the 405 are upset that homes may be lost and sound walls moved unnervingly close. Enter the lawyers. As Caltrans moves to widen more freeways as part of a multibillion-dollar infrastructure campaign, road planners are facing an early challenge in tony neighborhoods on the… Read more »
For Eminent Domain, A Shifting Landscape: The Day, 6/23/07
By Elaine Stoll New London — Two years to the day since the U.S. Supreme Court upheld New London’s use of eminent domain at Fort Trumbull, the neighborhood’s last residents have left and the economic development project that displaced them is moving ahead. Susette Kelo, lead plaintiff in the lawsuit Kelo v. City of New… Read more »
De La Torre proposes limits on eminent domain for private uses: San Jose CA Mercury News, 5/21/07
By Steve Lawrence, Associated Press California governments would be prohibited from using their eminent domain powers to acquire owner-occupied homes for shopping malls or other private development under legislation proposed Monday by a Democratic lawmaker and backed by a coalition of business, homeowner and environmental groups.The constitutional amendment and an accompanying bill by Assemblyman Hector… Read more »