Originally published February 21 2006
Eminent domain ruling results in backlash against Supreme Court Justice
by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger, NaturalNews Editor
Outraged by a recent court decision that reinterpreted eminent domain and the use of private property, L.A. businessman Logan Darrow Clements has decided to build a hotel in Connecticut that incorporates Supreme Court Justice David Souter's home into what will be called The Lost Liberty Hotel.
A pretty 200-year-old wooden farmhouse, it is set in eight acres (three hectares) of land in the small town of Weare, New Hampshire.
Justice Souter, one of nine judges on the US supreme court in Washington, does not visit his New Hampshire home too often.
Taking advantage of a supreme court ruling, activists plan to confiscate his home to build a hotel.
In June last year Justice Souter sided with a 5-4 majority on the supreme court upholding the right of government to seize private property for commercial development.
Article continues The ruling reflected a change in the law regarding eminent domain, or compulsory purchase.
Under the ruling, private property can now be appropriated for public benefit.
So in theory, the compulsory purchase of private property is justified in any development that benefits the local economy.
Logan Darrow Clements, a Los Angeles businessman, was so outraged at the supreme court ruling that he decided to build the Lost Liberty Hotel in the small town of 8,500 people on the spot occupied by Justice Souter's house, in what is officially known as the "Live Free or Die" state.
"This is in the tradition of the Boston Tea Party and the Pine Tree Riot," Mr Clements told reporters, referring to a riot in the winter of 1771-72 when colonists in Weare beat up officials appointed by King George III who fined them for logging white pines without approval.
"All we're trying to do is put an end to eminent domain abuse," Mr Clements said, by having those who advocate or facilitate it "live under it, so they understand why it needs to end".
City officials successfully argued that tax revenues and new jobs from the development would benefit the public.
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