Thursday, September 22, 2005

Can New Jersey Force A Bar Owner to Sell Property to A Catholic School?

In the post-New Deal world of limited property rights now comes this:
Can Jersey City use its power of eminent domain to force a property owner to sell to a private, Catholic high school?

The question has become more heated since the U.S. Supreme Court's controversial June decision reaffirming the government's power to take property as long as the owner is compensated.

In the case of Cheng "Terry" Tan and the Golden Cicada, Jersey City must prove that the taking of the property provides for a greater public good, according to Stuart Deutsch, dean of Rutgers Law School in Newark.
Whoever controls the local politicians wins.As we've said before maybe the concept of eminent domain is inconsistent with freedom and property rights.Since,anything could be labelled as beneficial or in the "public good":how long before HUD-style housing projects get seized under "eminent domain" because they are holding off an urban comeback?? Is that a no go?