"This land is your land, this land is my land ...!"

stuart sibley said...
Would you care to comment on the liberal Supreme Court's decision on eminent domain? While you were busy accusing the Rep party of being in the pocket of big business, your lib buddies just sold your property to Pfizer.

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I think it's a fantastic decision.

First, as George Will wrote, the decision kinda shows conservatives that a little judicial activism is a good thing. For years, the right wing has been hollering that courts need to step back and let legislatures define all legal meaning, with courts properly deferring to whatever interpretation they come up with. If people don't like their definitions, toss 'em out and vote new legislators in.

Well, the court in this case agreed. It allowed legislatures to define "public purpose" themselves and act accordingly, through the power of eminent domain. Sometimes, Stuart, you gotta be careful what you ask for.

It's a fine ruling in practical terms too.

Our glorious nation suffers sprawl in part because of all the work it takes to rebuild our core cities and older suburbs. Having spent time in local politics in Oakland, California before moving to Sacramento, I know how hard it is to redevelop an urban core. You can't rebuild without moving something out, and that's hard. It's expensive, complex and a disincentive for businesses to work through. That process has potentially gotten a lot easier with this ruling.

Development and redevelopment has always been an intense political issue. The court noted that this ruling could give the richer and more powerful more say in getting private land repurposed for them.

But business has generally seen it the other way around. The planning process as it stands is intensely procedural. Any developer or business owner has a couple of horror stories to tell.

Here in Sacramento we just hosted the 2005 Triple A All-Star Game at beautiful Raley Field. But it was a nightmare to get the park built. Lawsuits and reviews and reviews of the reviews came up and came up again. There are whole tribes of lawyers who live just to work in this field of policy. Some decisions, like a recent rejection of a Walmart store by referendum in a depressed Southern California city, show that the people can speak when the policymakers can't or won't.

The court majority in this case trusts democracy to work. Too bad many conservatives can't.