The US has gone to hell and will probably stay there for eternity

[S7Guy]

BTW, I don't think that public use includes commercial real estate where developer's making a killing at the original land owners expense. That is flat wrong.

I agree. The whole idea is attrocious, but in every case that I'm aware of it starts with the local city government who is enamored with the new tax revenues they will get. Luckily the states will bring their laws up to speed now that developers are trying things like this.

 

[Tom Jenkins]

The 4th amendment is clear enough in English. . The supreme court has the responsibility to declare if a law is constitutional. See Gerry's post. We don't need another law. We need the supreme court to stop sitting on their senile heads and declare the homeland security law unconstitutional.

The problem is that the Supreme Court can't act on its own. Someone must start the litigation, and after it works its way up the chain the Supreme Court can decide whether or not to accept the case for review.

 

[harryting]

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa3736/is_200611/ai_n18755301/pg_13

In United States v. Ramsey, discussed above, the United States Supreme Court addressed this issue. The Court reasoned as follows:

Travellers [sic] may be ... stopped [without a warrant and without suspicion] in crossing an international boundary because of national self protection reasonably requiring one entering the country to identify himself as entided to come in, and his belongings as effects which may be lawfully brought in. But diose lawfully within the country . . . have a right to free passage without interruption or search unless there is known to a competent official authorized to search, probable cause for believing that their vehicles are carrying contraband or illegal merchandise.

Similar principle in law are recongized by most nations. A very similar example are when political dissentants are prevented from returning to a country because once they enter, the law of that country then applies and due process are required.

 

[TimothyMoulder]

In the interest of playing devil's advocate, I've only ever heard of one case that makes any kind of sense. Some local and state govs are using emminent domain to clear out "blighted neighborhoods", those places so drug and crime infested that the cops spend all their time there, if they'll go there at all.

When I bought my house, we learned too late that the "bargain" we landed was owing to a trailer park two blocks over (and out of sight of the property) was basically East Pasco County's personal meth lab. The cops were down there every day and night, including the occasional overhead chopper search.

In our case, the county didn't use imminent domain. They raided the place, busted some bad guys, and condemned the whole park and ordered everyone out. The slum lord that owned it couldn't afford the repairs, so he sold it to a developer. The developer cleared it, then the housing bubble popped, and it's sat untouched, trailer-free, for over a year.

There's alot of debate about this practice, and I'll let wiser heads than mine hammer out the details. I'm content that although cops still prowl my neighborhood at times, at least we get no more fly-overs. The choppers upset my great dane.

TM