The current mayor, who was elected in 2011, has formally apologized to the Kelo plaintiffs, calling the decision a "black stain" on New London's reputation. City officials agreed to install a plaque on the heights above the Thames in memory of Margherita Cristofaro, who died during the long legal battle. It notes that she and her family "made significant contributions to the Italian-American community, sacrificing two family homes to the eminent domain process."
THAT's IT?
Were these dispossessed home owners compensated?
They were compensated to the amount the city thought their homes were worth. Usually about 30 cents on the dollar.
I’m surprised he hasn’t had an accident.
Certainly they should be required to rebuild these neighborhoods, as they were, and return the homes to the owners.
Yes. It was a taking, and takings must be compensated. A taking can be challenged as "not for a public use" (which SCOTUS has now defined as including "for private use if the tax flow to the government is increased"), or on the basis of not providing "just compensation."
I don't know how the compensation to the New London residents stacked up against market value and possible appreciation. IIRC, the taking resulted in diminished property value to the city.
Another good case along these lines is Poletown.
So the city lied. The homeowners now have a new legal case, yes?
The Demonrat mayor’s apology might be more believable if he ate a bullet to demonstrate his sincerity. Otherwise, a Demonrat’s word has negative value.
Well, that apology and $2.50 will get you a cup of coffee at Denny’s.
As far as I’m concerned, that property is cursed (at least in moral terms). I will never shop at a development on that property. The vacant tract of land should either stand as a permanent memorial to crony capitalism and its corrupt partnership with big government, or be rebuilt as new homes given to the evicted owners or their surviving family members in compensation for the immoral theft of their property.
Sound and blubbering, signifying nothing
The KELO decision has national implications. The Governor of Connecticut should also apologize to the nation. Oh wait, he’s too busy confiscating guns from his law-abiding constituents to be bothered.
We had a similar incident, the developers were all going become zillionaires, they sold out our small local little pool and tennis club, then the bottom went out of the market and it sits there undeveloped.
You have got to be kidding !!!
That's almost as insulting as the original decision...
What should happen is that the government entity nearest to where David Souter lives should condemn and take his damn house - for the public good.
And this is the same mayor who will be ordering door-to-door no-knock confiscation of firearms.
Will he apologize for those, too?
Yes, the propaganda omits compensation amounts. In most of the cases I’ve seen in the past, property owners were compensated quite a bit above market values. That said, it’s unconstitutional for governments to take properties from owners without any cause that would benefit the general public. The “Property values” excuse, for example, doesn’t qualify. Facilitating large scale transportation of needed resources does (railroads, pipelines, etc.).
“The Court ruled in favor of the City based on what it believed was “a carefully considered development plan.”
The city officials who pushed the taking of the private property should be prosecuted and sent to prison for lying in their lawsuit.
Whatever they stated to convince the Supreme Court that they had “a carefully considered development plan” turns out to be lies.
Possibly the Chamber of Commerce wasn't entirely thrilled with its two new slogans: "Come buy a home in New London. Maybe the government won't take it away," and "New London: what's yours is ours." At least they're a little more honest than erecting a plaque to one of the victims as if she were a volunteer.
And "obviously" one could argue that apologizing for what someone else did is meaningless.
That’s the difference between an apology and atonement - an apology makes you feel better and does nothing of substance for the victims. Atonement is making it as right as possible (lots of money in this case), is uncomfortable for the atoner and has some real value to the victim.
This story mentions seven property owners. In the 1960s a similar story played out along the Hudson River in NY, where dozens of property owners of the hamlet of Doodletown (south of West Point) had their properties taken to create a ski center for Bear Mountain State Park. It was never built, and their properties were simply added to the park; hikers today can still see the roads, stairs, foundations, and cemeteries of the former inhabitants.