Posted on 09/19/2005 7:09:09 AM PDT by xrp
Colorful balloons bobbed in the breeze. A huge banner reading "The Weber School" lay across a backhoe. A large tent teemed with people eating cake.
The groundbreaking ceremony Sunday afternoon was supposed to celebrate the start of construction of the private Jewish high school's 18-acre campus in Sandy Springs.
Instead, a mood of uncertainty and apprehension mixed with the hot late-summer air as parents and school officials grappled with the realization that all the plans they've made may be in jeopardy.
The Fulton County school system wants to buy the Weber School site and use the land to build a new elementary school. In a strongly worded letter sent earlier this month, the school district indicated that unless Weber sold the property by today, the school board would use eminent domain to obtain the land.
(Excerpt) Read more at ajc.com ...
Thanks. Her district winds into some affluent areas too, doesn't it? Or at least is completely inner city.
Her district appears to be composed of suburbs of Atlanta, most if not all of which are affluent or at least middle class.
http://www.house.gov/mckinney/d4/geo_desc.htm
I remember after the SCOTUS decision on eminent domain, hearing a guy on the radio say, when questioned about the seizure of church property by the state, that it could never happen. I remember thinking, yeah right. However, it is happening sooner than I even thought.
Yes. All they have to do is call the county commissioners and threaten their lives.
The Georgia State Constitution provides other avenues.
Article 1, Section 1 (The Georgia Bill of Rights)
If corporate entities in Georgia are treated as persons, Paragraphs II and X are being violated.
Paragraph II. Protection to person and property; equal protection. Protection to person and property is the paramount duty of government and shall be impartial and complete. No person shall be denied the equal protection of the laws.As I said earlier, since the forseeable effect is discriminatory, then equal protection is violated.
Paragraph X. Bill of attainder; ex post facto laws; and retroactive laws. No bill of attainder, ex post facto law, retroactive law, or laws impairing the obligation of contract or making irrevocable grant of special privileges or immunities shall be passed.
Paragraph IV is more diractly applicable:
Religious opinions; freedom of religion. No inhabitant of this state shall be molested in person or property or be prohibited from holding any public office or trust on account of religious opinions; but the right of freedom of religion shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousness or justify practices inconsistent with the peace and safety of the state.
The school already exists and has existed for some years, so none of these students will be forced to attend a public school. I believe they have been meeting in cramped quarters at the Jewish community center in Dunwoody. This property was purchased so that they could build the campus they have been planning for years.
http://www.ipetitions.com/campaigns/SaveOurProperty/
Absolutely!
When I lived in Virginia, the enviromentalists were buying up old farms to keep them "wild". The county governments did not really like that. They would like more tax funds coming in.
So, the developers really struck gold with this ruling! Man they can get all church land; private School land; and nature reserves....
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