The consequences of the Supreme Court's Kelo decision are beginning to ripple across the country.
Dr. Samuel Gregg, Director of Research at the Acton Institute, offers his thoughtful assessment of the fundamental changes this decision is creating in our economy and our society.
(I)t suggests that the basic justification of ownership is no longer found in the fact of legitimate possession, but rather in which private individual or business is deemed more likely by local government to use the property in economically productive ways.And here we find potential for very disturbing developments. St. Thomas Aquinas once wrote that private property was a great bulwark against undue expansion of state authority, precisely because my ownership of a property means that I, rather than government officials, make most of the decisions about how to use it. Kelo's expansion of eminent domain undermines this very basic protection against excessive government power.
Over time, Kelo will become known as the sharpest blow to free enterprise and entrepreneurship since this country was founded.
(Thanks to Annie Whiting for passing this link along).
