Eminent Domain: Sticking It To The Minorities and Poor

David T. Beito and Ilya Somin have an op-ed piece in the Kansas City Star titled Battle over eminent domain is another civil rights issue. In the piece, they discuss how eminent domain abuse has had a disproportionate impact on minorities and the lower class. It is easy to see how that would be the case. In the article, Beito and Somin quote an amicus brief filed by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in Kelo v New London:

“[t]he burden of eminent domain has and will continue to fall disproportionately upon racial and ethnic minorities, the elderly, and economically disadvantaged.” Unfettered eminent domain authority, the NAACP concluded, is a “license for government to coerce individuals on behalf of society’s strongest interests.”

When someone wants to challenge eminent domain proceedings it can often lead to very costly legal bills. Many in lower income communities (of which inner-city communities tend to be predominately minorities) are unable to afford those fees and are therefore forced to take whatever deal the city, state or county wants to give them. That is a far cry from the case that I wrote about a couple of weeks ago [See here] where a dentist has had the means and connections to fight against the cities abuse of power.

It truly is time for all of use, liberal and conservative alike, to get behind reform to end the abuse of eminent domain. I urge you to contact your state legislators and encourage them to push for reform.

Cross posted at RedState