Posted 6/25/2005 04:34:00 PM by Douglas

The land grab has already begun. Looks like Galveston County isn't going to try it. Yet.

With Thursday's Supreme Court decision, Freeport officials instructed attorneys to begin preparing legal documents to seize three pieces of waterfront property along the Old Brazos River from two seafood companies for construction of an $8 million private boat marina.

The court, in a 5-4 decision, ruled that cities may bulldoze people's homes or businesses to make way for shopping malls or other private development. The decision gives local governments broad power to seize private property to generate tax revenue.

This is really unbelievable. Being secure in your property is one of the fundamental American ideals, and to think your local government is going to take your property away simply because someone else wants it and can afford to pay more taxes on it is criminally absurd. This one can't get overturned fast enough.

And if you want to hear George Will bloviate on the subject, go for it.

On Thursday the court said that the modifier “public” in the phrase “public use” does not modify government power at all. That is the logic of the opinion written by Justice John Paul Stevens and joined by justices Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

In a tart dissent, Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, joined by Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Justice Scalia and Justice Clarence Thomas, noted that the consequences of this decision “will not be random.”

You know it's got to be a bad call if you've got Scalia and Thomas agreeing with O'Connor.