Sponsored Content
« Virginia Democrat Governor Terry McAulliffe: Republicans Need to Stop Complaining That I Gave Felons the Right to Vote Back and Go Out There and Earn the Felon Vote, Like Democrats Do | Main | Reposting: The Vicious Cycle of Third-Party Punishment »
April 25, 2016

SCOTUS Refuses To Consider Overturning A Takings Clause Case (CBD)

I'm not a lawyer, and I didn't even stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it seems to me that limiting access to the federal court system in cases where the question is a clear Constitutional issue seems...odd.

The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution requires the government to pay just compensation when it takes private property for public use. Yet in the 1985 case of Williamson County Regional Planning Commission v. Hamilton Bank of Johnson City, the U.S. Supreme Court significantly undercut the protections from government abuse offered by that constitutional provision, holding that plaintiffs may not file a just compensation lawsuit in federal court until they have first exhausted their compensation claims in state court.

But the court declined to hear Arrigoni Enterprises, LLC v. Durham, a clear challenge to Williamson County, and Justices Thomas and Kennedy(!) were not pleased. Clarence Thomas Faults SCOTUS for Enabling Government Abuse and Undermining the 5th Amendment, and his logic seems unassailable.

In response to the Court's rejection of that petition, Justice Thomas, joined by Justice Anthony Kennedy, filed a pointed dissent, accusing the Court of undermining a core constitutional provision while simultaneously enabling government abuse of property rights. "Both the text of the Takings Clause and the historical evidence cast doubt on Williamson County," Thomas noted. According to Thomas, Arrigoni Enterprises offered a welcome opportunity "to consider whether there are any justifications for the ahistorical, atextual, and anomalous state-litigation rule, and if not, to overrule Williamson County."

The default position of the writers of the Constitution was that government power is dangerous and must be limited. The Takings Clause is one of those portions of the Amendments that seem never to be read, yet are obviously rather important. Ask every a few high school kids what the Fifth Amendment is, and they will tell you that it protects us against self incrimination. But Eminent Domain is a very big deal, as we learned to our dismay in Kelo v. City of New London. Is this SCOTUS consolidating its decision in Kelo, or just one more erosion of our rights?

This is one of the topics that pull me back to Reason. I like that they are immediately suspicious of any limitations on our rights. Yeah, they are mostly nuts, but maybe they are the canary in the coal mine?


digg this
posted by Open Blogger at 06:34 PM

| Access Comments




Recent Comments
vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion: "If debt doesn't matter, then why are we paying tax ..."

Sharkman: "I'd love it if someone on the Left could rationall ..."

Trump poisoned my cat: "The problem is we're hostages on this crazy train ..."

Ignoramus: ""If debt doesn't matter, then why are we paying ta ..."

DFCtomm: "If debt doesn't matter, then why are we paying tax ..."

gourmand du jour: ""One of the best movies ever is The Lives of Other ..."

Martini Farmer: "> and they use Blacks as a progressive lever for t ..."

Ignoramus: "As I remember it, East Germans fled to the West th ..."

Miss Lindsey, Servant of Ba'al!: "[i]Dozens of NATO peacekeepers injured during clas ..."

Three Days Until Pride Month!: "[i]Um, they didn't. The Soviet Union collapsed. [/ ..."

Erik In Texas: "If debt doesn't matter, then why are we paying tax ..."

JackStraw: "The average 30 year mortgage rate in the US today ..."

Recent Entries
Search


Polls! Polls! Polls!
Frequently Asked Questions
The (Almost) Complete Paul Anka Integrity Kick
Top Top Tens
Greatest Hitjobs

The Ace of Spades HQ Sex-for-Money Skankathon
A D&D Guide to the Democratic Candidates
Margaret Cho: Just Not Funny
More Margaret Cho Abuse
Margaret Cho: Still Not Funny
Iraqi Prisoner Claims He Was Raped... By Woman
Wonkette Announces "Morning Zoo" Format
John Kerry's "Plan" Causes Surrender of Moqtada al-Sadr's Militia
World Muslim Leaders Apologize for Nick Berg's Beheading
Michael Moore Goes on Lunchtime Manhattan Death-Spree
Milestone: Oliver Willis Posts 400th "Fake News Article" Referencing Britney Spears
Liberal Economists Rue a "New Decade of Greed"
Artificial Insouciance: Maureen Dowd's Word Processor Revolts Against Her Numbing Imbecility
Intelligence Officials Eye Blogs for Tips
They Done Found Us Out, Cletus: Intrepid Internet Detective Figures Out Our Master Plan
Shock: Josh Marshall Almost Mentions Sarin Discovery in Iraq
Leather-Clad Biker Freaks Terrorize Australian Town
When Clinton Was President, Torture Was Cool
What Wonkette Means When She Explains What Tina Brown Means
Wonkette's Stand-Up Act
Wankette HQ Gay-Rumors Du Jour
Here's What's Bugging Me: Goose and Slider
My Own Micah Wright Style Confession of Dishonesty
Outraged "Conservatives" React to the FMA
An On-Line Impression of Dennis Miller Having Sex with a Kodiak Bear
The Story the Rightwing Media Refuses to Report!
Our Lunch with David "Glengarry Glen Ross" Mamet
The House of Love: Paul Krugman
A Michael Moore Mystery (TM)
The Dowd-O-Matic!
Liberal Consistency and Other Myths
Kepler's Laws of Liberal Media Bias
John Kerry-- The Splunge! Candidate
"Divisive" Politics & "Attacks on Patriotism" (very long)
The Donkey ("The Raven" parody)
Powered by
Movable Type 2.64