Free Republic

Californians worried about local governments abusing their powers of eminent domain can rejoice in the news that the Protect Our Homes Act has officially qualified to appear on this November's ballot. The Secretary of State's office announced Tuesday that it had verified 683,712 of about 1 million signatures for the initiative, which would protect individuals and small-business owners from having their land seized and transferred to other private holders. (snip) From 1998 to 2003, California seized 223 properties for private development projects on the theory that the properties were "blighted," a requirement for using eminent domain. Most of these were...

Today, the Protect Our Homes Coalition will announce that they are turning in over a million signatures in County Registrar offices all around the state, virtually assuring that this important measure to protect Californians from eminent domain abuse will appear on the November ballot. Assemblywoman Mimi Walters (R-Laguna Niguel - pictured to the right)) is serving as the Honorary Chairman of the Coalition, and she will be announcing the big news formally later today. “The Protect Our Homes Initiative will restore the rights of homeowners and small businesses that were gutted by the Supreme Court’s outrageous decision in the Kelo...

If you were a member of the Filipino Baptist Fellowship Church in Long Beach, you would be confronted with the fact that the California Redevelopment Agency wants to condemn your Church... If you are in Yolo County, your county is using police powers to try and seize the 16,300 Conaway Ranch, intending to own and manage the ranch itself... If you are the owner of 16 acres of residential land in Grand Terrace, California, city officials are trying to force a shopping center and a 'big box' store on your land... These are just a small sampling of abuses that...

City officials use fanciful arguments to explain why, say, a Costco is a public purpose because it brings in more tax revenue than the neighborhood that was there before it. With that simple twist of a phrase, essential constitutional property protections have been obliterated. You might own a small warehouse, but a developer wants to build a new high rise on the site. The government will come in and offer you the value of the warehouse (and will usually lowball the price and often force you to go to court to get a higher price, where you will pay your...

It's beginning to look as if Californians will be asked to vote later this year to reform the laws of eminent domain - and do a lot more to protect private property rights. Several separate ballot measure drives have begun, and sputtered, since a U.S. Supreme Court decision last year confirmed the power of government to force the sale of private property then transfer that property to another private owner for development. But now a New York-based foundation has dropped $1.5 million into a campaign led by Americans for Limited Government, a national libertarian group, to qualify an eminent domain...