Supreme Arrogance: How a run-away court is affecting the future of your family.
by Ryan McCann

If the recently elected "Greatest American," (President Ronald Reagan) was alive to view the actions of the United States Supreme Court I have a feeling he would say, "There they go again." The Highest Court in the land has done it again. The majority of Justices have abandoned tradition, the intent of the authors of the U.S. Constitution and good old fashion common sense.

The First example is Kelo v. City of New London. This case allows and even promotes legalized theft. In this case (I’m paraphrasing) the Court basically sets the precedent that you as a homeowner can be forced into selling your property to another private company or individual if the government chooses to sieze ownership away from you through eminent domain.

Let's say that I come up to you and tell you that I want to buy your property, bulldoze it and build a Dick's Bodacious Barbeque on your land. Let's also say that your home has been passed down to you over several generations from your grandparents, to your parents, to you and you want to pass your home on to your children. Therefore, you don't want to sell and you tell me so. If I were to write you a check for the "market value" of your home, force you at gun point to sign over the property to me and bulldoze your home, I would be arrested and thrown in jail, and rightly so. This is a form of theft.

However, in principle, the Supreme Court has ruled that this form of theft (which is illegal if done privately) is legal if accomplished at the hands of local governments through the expansion of eminent domain power. Because my Dick's Bodacious Barbeque would bring in much more tax revenue than your home, the government is enticed to force you to sell your property to me at "market value" (not the value it would cause you to voluntarily sell your property) if they so choose.

No, this is not a joke. No, this is not a story about the destruction of property rights in some foreign country. This happened at the hands of 5 liberal members of the U.S. Supreme Court in the United States of America. Conservatives are often lambasted by the media as self-interested, money hungry lapdogs of big business. This case proves this point of view is false. In fact, through this case, the most liberal members of the U.S. Supreme Court have now put the interests of big business ahead of families. Unfortunately, through this ruling, neither my family's home nor yours is safe if local government officials choose to use this expanded form of eminent domain. In addition, this ruling will lead to government corruption as local government officials will now have the ability to acquire property through eminent domain and distribute it to political cronies.

How can we change this continuous flood of judicial tyranny? When vacancies on the U.S. Supreme Court occur, urge members of the U.S. Senate (including Indiana Senators Lugar and Bayh) to confirm Justices in the mold of Scalia and Thomas.

Read "Supreme Arrogance II," for further evidence that the United States Supreme Court is out of control.