A man's home is his castle...NOT

In the second ruling in two days, the Supreme Court has taken a major chunk out of the 5th Amendment, which supposedly guaranteed the right to private property.

The first ruling, Monday, ruled that the Feds could not prevent local government from dictating how property is used. In the specific case, a San Francisco hotel owner sued the city under Federal law so that he could change the place into a tourist hotel rather than subsidized housing as required by the city. In doing so, the Supremes overturned an appeals court ruling by (of all people) Janice Rogers Brown.

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ASIDE:

In the appeals ruling which had been overturned, Judge Brown wrote: "Theft is theft even when the government approves of the thievery. Turning a democracy into a kleptocracy does not enhance the stature of the thieves, it only diminishes the legitimacy of the government"

That woman is great.

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In the second ruling, today, the Supremes said that the state could buy up private property for eminent domain purposes even when the intent was merely to resell the property to land developers so that the local tax base could be raised. In the specific case, the newly restored home of nurse Suzette Kelo and the homes of other residents of a middle class neighborhood, were purchased against the homeowners wishes.

Ruling like the above became a distinct possibility forty years ago, when the Feds started clearing out ghettos for urban renewal projects. Only people thought it was a good thing then, when it was only poor, black folks who were getting hustled out. Now it is middle class white people who are getting the treatment.

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ANOTHER ASIDE:

This all makes me think of Nikki Giovanni, a noted black poet and English professor at Virginia Tech with roots in Knoxville, Tennessee, where I live. The first time I came across her poetry, dating from the early 70's, I was disgusted at all the creative energy she expended while fantasizing about killing cops and white people. Later, I found an explanation she made for her early poetry in an interview. Apparently, her grandmother lived in a black neighborhood in east Knoxville. Grandma was forced to leave her home in an urban renewal project which eventually resulted in the building of the Knoxville Civic Auditorium and coliseum. Nikki was convinced that her removal from her home had hastened her grandmother's death, and she was quite bitter about it. Now, when I catch the ballet or a musical and the roof of the auditorium is leaking on my head while it is raining outside (that has happened), I wonder if Nikki's grandma is getting her revenge.

Incidentally, Giovanni's poetry has gotten better since the 1970s.

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First we started doing it to poor people. Now we are doing it to the middle class.

There is a silver lining. If we are lucky, we can continue the progression by convincing the city of Palm Beach to take Barbara Streisand's house to improve the beach scene.

I won't hold my breath.