NEWS FLASH - JUNE 23, 2005

US SUPREME COURT RULES GOVERNMENT CAN SEIZE YOUR PROPERTY FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT

Today the Court abandons a long-held,
basic limitation on government power.

Today, the U.S. Supreme Court greased the wheels of the Trans Texas Corridor. Scott Bullock, senior attorney for the Institute for Justice says, "With today's ruling, the poor and middle class will be most vulnerable to eminent domain abuse by government and its corporate allies." In the dissenting opinion Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote, "The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms."

"Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party . . ." Justice O'Connor

Nowhere in America is the threat greater today than in Texas. The Trans Texas Corridor, a massive 584,000 acre project is the poster child of government and corporate greed. Today's ruling keeps the green light on for TxDOT to seize hundreds of thousands of acres of private land to generate revenues through concession agreements with private toll road, rail road, and utility operators who will reap billions in profits from Texas and hard working Texans for the next 50 to 70 years.

[ KELO V. NEW LONDON (04-108) 268 Conn. 1, 843 A. 2d 500, affirmed. ]