The Supreme Court last week decided in the case of Kelo v. City of New London that you no longer really own your home....or rather, you do until a developer decides your castle should instead be a strip mall, an office building, a health club or a gas station.
Specifically, the Court held that the taking by New London, Connecticut of 15 properties belonging to nine residents or investment owners was constitutional, even though the properties were taken by the town to be given to developers to build a private sector hotel, among other things.
The Court determined that if a community decides that your home or land could be better used to improve the economic conditions of the community (read “increase the tax base”), then it can take your home.
So are the states hurting financially, which might somehow justify taking away their citizens’ property in an effort to get more taxes?
According to a survey by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, state tax revenue nationwide increased the first quarter of this year 11.7% over the same period a year ago. January-March tax revenue was the fastest growth spurt since 1991.
As if damage to the right to own real property weren’t enough, there are implications for intellectual property – indirect, yes, but still ominous when one considers that real and intellectual property share many legal characteristics.
Given that real property rights have long been thought of as more secure than intellectual property rights, what now? Could it be argued that if the government could reap more revenue by giving an individual’s or company’s intellectual property to someone else, then it has a right to do so?
The implications of Keloand the potential for mischief are enormous. You may have a very, very, very fine house now – but for how long?