Free Republic

The California Alliance to Protect Private Property Rights endorsed "The Homeowners and Private Property Protection Act," sponsored by Senator Tom McClintock, Assemblyman Doug LaMalfa and the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association on Friday. The ballot measure has companion bills before the State Legislature. SCA 20 and ACA 22 are sponsored by Senator McClintock and Assemblyman LaMalfa, respectively. As a result of the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo v. New London decision, nearly every state in the country is considering legislative reforms, including California. However, California private property rights activists have not been assured that meaningful reforms will be passed by the California...

California’s property owners, incensed by the U.S. Supreme Court’s recent Kelo decision, are going on the offensive with a ballot initiative that aims to limit the government’s sweeping eminent domain powers. But powerful developers who benefit from the status quo are sure to put up a fight. The California Property Owners Protection Act would eliminate the state and local governments’ ability to take personal property for non-public uses. Public uses would be strictly defined as the building of roads, parks, and public edifices. Non-public uses include the transferring of an individual’s land to another person or private entity. The initiative,...

In June, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled government has the right to seize homes to make way for private redevelopment, it set off fear in the hearts of homeowners and lawmakers alike. A flurry of bills and state ballot initiatives have been introduced in response to concern that the court's decision can put anyone's property up for grabs through eminent domain. That case, Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., involved seizure of waterfront homes to allow the nonprofit New London Development Group to develop a hotel and health club near a new research center. It wasn't a blighted...