Florida appeals court says Hollywood can take downtown property for redevelopm[Eminent Domain]

South Florida Sun-Sentinel ^ | 27 Mar 2008 | Ihosvani Rodriguez

[Blood of Tyrants]

Are you being sarcastic or deliberately dense?

[longtermmemmory]

obviously not strong enough.

Keep in mind the 4th DCA is in developer rich people heavy west palm beach. A bit too developer friendly.

[Mark was here]

The problem in Kelo is the same problem here. The problem is not the Judges but the scumbag voters in both cities that elected their local governments to carry out their will. The voters are the real trash in this story by selecting Representatives who don't give a hot damn about property rights. The Voters are the truly wicked and evil ones here. In order to hold the morons who elected the Representatives who brokered this crap responsible, we need to get rid of the secret ballot, and stop having voters cower under a sheet when voting. Those who elected these thieves into office, should be able to answer to their fellow citizens why the made the choices they did. It is all about self government and accountability.

[Mark was here]

I would like your comments on my post #23. I agree with you that it is a local / separation of powers issue, not just the whims of the courts.

Do you see an issue with non-property owners, those with nothing at stake, electing representatives who have no respect for property rights?

[Santiago de la Vega]

Well, I never thought of that.

I suppose the Supremes will still require compensation, because they argue an increase in tax revenues is a public good.

Interesting point.

[Amendment10]

I would like your comments on my post #23. I agree with you that it is a local / separation of powers issue, not just the whims of the courts.

Do you see an issue with non-property owners, those with nothing at stake, electing representatives who have no respect for property rights?

You've pointed out a complex social situation concerning property rights.

A part of the problem is that, as a consequence of voters being up to their eyeballs in politically correct interpretations of what the Constitution says about property rights, state laws that are weak in protecting property owners are probably going to remain in the books for quite awhile.

On a related note, I believe that, because of decades of voters in general being ripped off by corrupt state / local politicians, that people are largely in the state of apathy that Thomas Jefferson was concerned about.

"...Cherish therefore the spirit of our people, and keep alive their attention. Do not be too severe upon their errors, but reclaim them by enlightening them. If once they become inattentive to the public affairs, you & I, & Congress & Assemblies, judges & governors shall all become wolves. ..." --Jefferson to Edward Carrington, Jan. 16, 1787 http://tinyurl.com/46x5d

So regarding your concern about evil voters, I think the problem is that it's relatively easy for an evil minority to take advantage of voters who have good intentions but are nonetheless largely ignorant of the Constitution and other laws.

Also, I understand your idea about so-called non-property owners. But probably not even people who rent their living space want their space to be legally taken away from them against their wishes, not paying their rent for example. On the other hand, this probably doesn't stop renters from having an "it can't happen to me" attitude with respect to cases like Kelo.

[Mark was here]

Thanks for the reply.

Do you think there would be less voter apathy if voters know their votes are “on the record”, just like the votes of the elected representatives are recorded?

I can't get past the notion that accountable elections, would help keep alive the attention of the voters. This would keep the government from degenerating into a bunch of wolves.