Eminent Domain

As we probably all know, the Supreme Court ruled the other day that eminent domain can be used in cases where "public good supersedes conventional private property rights". With my limited understanding this basically has meant that where previously you had to be displaced by something like "your land is the only practical location for this interstate" to "your land would make a great location for a giant tax-generating corporate headquarters".

In Justice O'Connor's dissent she says:
Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms. As for the victims, the government now has license to transfer property from those with fewer resources to those with more. The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.

Evidently, conservatives like Logan Darrow Clements think that this is a great idea. He's asked the town of Weare, N.H., to seize Supreme Court Justice David H. Souter's house so that he can build a hotel and museum on the property! His plan includes the "Just Desserts Cafe", a museum on the loss of freedom in America, and instead of a Gideon's Bible: each guest would receive a free copy of Ayn Rand's novel "Atlas Shrugged."

Classic.