Anti-Kelo Executive Order Issued

President Bush today signed an Executive Order largely aimed at limiting federal use of eminent domain powers based on the Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v New London.

Executive Order: Protecting the Property Rights of the American People

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and to strengthen the rights of the American people against the taking of their private property, it is hereby ordered as follows:

Section 1. Policy. It is the policy of the United States to protect the rights of Americans to their private property, including by limiting the taking of private property by the Federal Government to situations in which the taking is for public use, with just compensation, and for the purpose of benefiting the general public and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties to be given ownership or use of the property taken.(emphasis added)

My own efforts to combat the Kelo decision have fallen far short o f what I had hoped. The Open Source Amendment and the petition that arose form it did not quite take off as I had hoped. Since the petition was launched nearly a year ago it has garnered only 389 signatures. Thousands of emails to bloggers and journalists never got the petition the exposure it needed.

The amendment produced with input from many sources read:

The right to ownership of property being the cornerstone of liberty, no government, or agency thereof, within these United States shall have the authority to take property from any person, corporation, or organization through exercise of eminent domain for other than a public use without just compensation.

Public use shall be understood to be property the government owns or retains the paramount interest in, and the public has a legal right to use. Public use shall be understood to include property the government owns and maintains as a secure facility. Public use shall not be construed to include economic development or increased tax revenue. Public use of such property shall be maintained for a period of not less than 25 years.

Just compensation shall be the higher of twice the average of the price paid for similar property in the preceding six months, or twice the average of the previous 10 recorded similar property transactions. Compensation paid shall be exempt from taxation in any form by any government within these United States.

But I am not disheartened. The fight against this horrendous ruling continues on many fronts. The President's executive order is a strong victory in that fight.

HT Instapundit

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 01:38 PM | Comments (2) | Add Comment