Comments on: Episode 8: Eminent Domain: This land is my land, this land is your land.

By: Jill Myers

Jill Myers — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 03:53:11 +0000

My opinion?
The new definition of Eminent Domain is absolutely wrong.
Schools, churches, gov’t offices, etc are ok. Taking property away from individuals to
line the pocketbooks of the wealthy is intrinsically and ethically abusive to the private citizen and greed at its worst.

By: Louis J Trauth III

Louis J Trauth III — Tue, 04 Mar 2008 03:23:23 +0000

Any tool that has been abused as much as this one has by a governement needs to be taken away from it! I expect this kind of crap in a Stalinist dictatorship, not in the good old U.S. of A.!

By: Ken Shackelford

Ken Shackelford — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 22:23:17 +0000

I am not a fan of Eminent Domain. I understand its origins and why it was necessary for railroads when the country was being opened up. And I also understand that it sometimes necessary for the public good. However, it is being abused big-time in the modern era by greedy land developers with city councils in their back pocket. People deserve to be able to keep their homes if they can keep their homes in reasonable repair. No one wants to live next to a slum. However, taking someone’s property just so someone else can build a highrise or an expensive condo is not right and it is not fair. People have ties to the land. This is what fuels so much controversy in the Middle East. People have a connection to what is theirs - what they have paid for with their hard work and their sweat and their tears. Generations sometimes live in a house and there are many memories. How do you fairly compensate the elderly who have lived in a house that has been theirs for years, which is in good repair, and is a home where they hope to live out their days, only to see someone become interested in their land, and then use Eminent Domain to try and take that away from them? What amount of money is fair? Eminent Domain should only be used to obtain land for fire houses, schools, and other ESSENTIAL facilities, and never to turn that land over to a private developer. Serious reform is needed - in fact, it is long overdue.

By: Kevin Brown

Kevin Brown — Mon, 03 Mar 2008 15:45:17 +0000

Hi, enjoyed the vendetti piece. The same city, Long Branch is attempting to
seize our church own building, after not allowing us to use it as a church. We
recently won a US Federal Court decision that found Long Branch violated our
civil rights when they refused to allow us to redevelop the building and use it
as church on lower Broadway. However, even though the Federal court said they
violated our rights, they can still take it by eminent domain after prohibiting
us from using it for 14 years. It is also my home, as I live on the second
floor of the building.
Our eminent domain case comes before the court in Freehold on March 14.