Carolyn
"According to a talk show I listened to this morning, the SCOTUS ruling included something to the effect that local and state governments could institute further protections for private property. That struck me as odd, since the eminent domain function was part of what the federal government was supposed to administer."
Eminent Domain should have been elmimnated entirely from this continent, unfortunately it was not.
This is what happens when you leave the protection of your freedoms to others.
I don't care if I get banned from this site or not at this point, this needs saying. It's high time we as a people stood up to this tyranny going on in Washington DC. If we don't do it now and get it under control and put this Government back in it's box, violently if necessary, then we will lose every ounce of freedom we ever had.
"That struck me as odd, since the eminent domain function was part of what the federal government was supposed to administer."
What made you think that? It's always been something allowed by local governments as well. The federal law is now technically what the Supreme Court says it is, that private property can be taken for private use as long as there is some public benefit (I think that's what they said but I didn't read the opinion). But states are free to have more restrictive laws that make eminent domain available under more limited circumstances.
I hate this Supreme Court decision, but realistically we aren't going to dissolve the Supreme Court and we aren't going to be able to get it changed anytime soon. The best course of action is for those who don't live in a state with statutes or a Constitution protecting against this sort of thing then they need to make a lot of noise until their states also protect them.