Idahoans Back Property Rights Protection
IDAHOANS BACK PROPERTY RIGHTS PROTECTION
Idaho Congressmen Mike Simpson and C.L. "Butch" Otter will cosponsor new legislation to restore the fundamental property rights stripped from the American people by a recent U.S. Supreme Court decision.
Simpson and Otter endorsed the Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005, being introduced by House Judiciary Committee Chairman F. James Sensenbrenner Jr., as a reasonable and necessary response to the court's 5-4 decision on June 23 in Kelo v. City of New London.
That ruling upheld the city of New London, Connecticut's determination that economic development qualifies as a "public use" for which the Constitution allows governments to take private property under the power of eminent domain.
Chairman Sensenbrenner's bill clarifies the constitutional restriction on government embodied in the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment by prohibiting any government authority from using economic development as a reason for exercising its power of eminent domain. The restriction would apply whenever federal funds contribute in any way to the project for which the power of eminent domain is exercised.
"The Supreme Court's split decision is an undeniable threat to property owners and contradictory to the property rights protections of the Constitution," Congressman Simpson said. "In Congress, we must do our part to quickly mitigate the impacts of this decision and protect the rights of property owners across the county. That is why I am proud to be a part of this effort to defend the property rights of my constituents."
"There is simply no justification for classifying private development as the kind of public use' anticipated by the Framers as the basis for the government - any government - taking private property. It's that kind of revisionist interpretation of the Constitution that has placed so much of our public life at the mercy of appointed judges and creeping statism," Congressman Otter said. "The ability for individuals to obtain, use and transfer private property is a fundamental principle of our free society. This decision severely weakens that principle. Our legislation will set it right."
http://www.house.gov/apps/list/press/id02_simpson/property_joint.html