I have not written in this space about the open Source Amendment Project for some time. This does not mean that I have promoting petition. I continue, with no success, to send press releases to news agencies, particularly those in which I have found recent coverage of eminent domain issues, and any blog that I find dealing with the issue, I make sure to leave a link in the comments.

If you are new to this site or not familiar with this project, it was started in response the Supreme Court decision in the case of Kelo v. New London. In that decision, the Court ruled that a governmental agency seizing the property of a private individual to transfer ownership to another private entity that will generate more tax revenue constitutes a “public use' under the Fifth Amendment. The project began with a draught of Constitutional Amendment to clearly define and restrict the term ”public use.“ Through the input of many bloggers, commenters and emailers, the text was refined and the petition launched.

In the Declaration of Independence the founders of this great nation wrote, ”That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.“ They also built into the structure of our government a process by which we the people can seek to change the nature and function of our government without abolishing it and beginning again.

We the undersigned agree with our founders that governments derive their just powers from the consent of the governed and feel that our government has exceeded the bounds of that consent. We believe that the recent decision of the Supreme Court regarding the exercise of eminent domain was reached with complete disregard for the plain language of the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution.

We the people therefore ask that the Constitution of the United States be amended to include the following language:

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.

From the outset of this project I had no illusions (or delusions) about the possibility of actually amending the Constitution. I had hoped that the Open Source Amendment would attract enough attention and support to be a part of the public discourse about the abuse of eminent domain. I had hoped it would gain enough support that it would help to send a message that the American public was not at all happy with the state of property rights under the Kelo decision.

I have not given up those hopes. I will continue to promote the amendment and the petition at every opportunity. At some point, if it sits with little activity long enough, the host will take it down to make room on their server for other causes.I would like to delay that moment as long as possible.

Sign the petition . Tell your friends.

The Open Source Process

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Technorati Tags: Eminent Domain, Kelo, Property Rights, property-rights, Supreme Court

Posted by: Stephen Macklin at 07:55 AM | Comments (1) | Add Comment