OntheWilderSide

Marking the 3rd Anniversary of the
Kelo vs. New London
U.S. Supreme Court Decision
on eminent domain 

Kelo House Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony 

Date:   Saturday June 21, 2008
Time:   1:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Location:   New London, Connecticut
Street:   36 Franklin Street
City State:   New London, CT
(A Long Island group will gather and travel together
by ferry see below)

Remarks at 1:30pm by Susette, IJ Senior Attorneys Scott Bullock and Dana Berliner, and community members
involved in the heroic fight to stop eminent domain abuse not only in New London, but also across the
country. Refreshments will be provided.

Please RSVP to Melanie Hildreth at mhildreth@ij.org or (703) 682-9320 ext. 222. 

Castle Coalition Coordinator
Institute for Justice
901 N. Glebe Road, Suite 900
Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 682-9320
www.ij.org
www.castlecoalition.org 

-

The Suffolk County Libertarian Party and the Suffolk Individual 
Liberty Organization will be organizing car
pools to Cross Sound Ferry in Orient Point for those who wish 
to go the ribbon cutting. Contact Mike Houze
or Estelle Edwards for details.

The gist of it is this. The Institute for Justice, the
public interest law firm that defended Susette Kelo,
is hosting this ribbon-cutting ceremony. Susette
Kelo's house has been moved from its original location
to 36 Franklin Street and will be preserved as a
monument to the fight against eminent domain abuse.
Institute for Justice attorney Scott Bullock, who took
on the case, will be there to say a few words, as will
Ms. Kelo herself. The dedication will be from 1p-4p,
and refreshments will be served. The Kelo decision
sent shockwaves through this country, and lots of
folks mobilized to protect property rights. 40 states
enacted laws to prohibit eminent domain for private
development. 

You see, the working class neighborhood of Fort
Trumbull, CT was condemned by the New London
Development Corporation for the purpose of building
luxury condos, even though the residents did not want
to move. It was the four liberal judges on the bench,
David Souter in particular, who ruled against the
homeowners. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote the
dissenting opinion that sided with the homeowners. 

  Although Susette Kelo lost the battle, this decision
woke up a lot of people as to the state of our country
and the erosion of civil liberties, especially
property rights. The Supreme Court decision
essentially said that private property can be seized
to give to another private interest, not just for the
purpose of building a dam, highway, or hospital. 

Four years ago, I took part in a little demonstration
against the eminent domain action against St. Luke's
Pentecostal Church in the New Cassel section of
Woodbury. Rich Cooper, then chair of the LPNY and the
Nassau chapter of the Libertarian Party of New York,
organized the protest against the town of North
Hempstead. St. Luke's was a storefront church. They
obtained a loan and bought property at 822 Prospect
Avenue to build a real house of worship. After
knocking down the abandoned building that stood on the
site, it began construction on the new building.
However, the town of North Hempstead halted
construction, seized the property and removed the
church's tax exempt status for an urban renewal
scheme. The town was only going to compensate the
church $80,000, nowhere near the size of the $200k
loan it took out to build its new place of worship.
Rich Cooper, myself - then vice chair of the Suffolk
County libertarian chapter - and a few others joined
the Reverend Fred Jenkins to protest the
ribbon-cutting ceremony for the revitalization
project. News12 caught a bit of our protest on tape.
The town did not return the property, but it did
raised the compensation money from $80,000 to
$160,000, and if it wasn't for the efforts of Rich
Cooper, this injustice might have gone unnoticed by
the public.
Ever since, the Suffolk and Nassau chapters of the
LPNY have kept a close watch on eminent domain issues
in particular. So, we hope you join us in New London
this coming Saturday at 1pm: 36 Franklin Street, a
short walk from where the Cross Sound Ferry drops you
off. 

And on June 23, please join the massive 'money bomb'
or donation that will be made to the *Institute for
Justice so it can further its work and the fight to
preserve property rights. Thank you.

Sincerely,
Estelle Edwards

Newly-elected
Chair of the Suffolk County Libertarian Party  (Long Island, New York)

Filed under: Action Alert!, grassroots democracy, local, long island, Long Island Politics, Political Websites, social & economic justice, third party, US Politics Tagged: | eminent domain, Estelle Edwards, Kelo House, New London, Suffolk County, Supreme Court, third parties