What is it? It's the venue whereby the government is allowed to seize property belonging to an individual for the public good, paying a government-determined price for remuneration. Often it ends up benefitting the interests of private industry.
It happened to my ancestors. It still happens today. It can happen any time. In the words of Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory."
When I first wrote "STOLEN FIELDS," I felt that eminent domain was an important issue for my family. However, as I'm out and about and meeting more people, I'm finding that it touches many more than I had imagined, and is still that looming specter today. It has recently affected a family-owned business in Bucksport, Maine whose restaurant was razed to make way for a new bridge. The bridge was necessary as the old one had become dangerous. However, the government did not pay the appraised real estate value for the business that had been in the family for 50 years, and at the end of the day, it land it had stood on was not needed after all for the approach to the new bridge. This was the experience of the Dyer family of Bucksport. The fight continues in the court for just remuneration.
My neighbor has told me that her grandfather's farm was taken to make way for a golf course. The lady I met today at the Portland Public Library told me that her family had been affected. My daughter told me, also today, that the State of Maine has just announced that it will invoke eminent domain to obtain lands it needs to build a new super highway. It can happen anyplace, anytime. Everyone's American Dream of property ownership can be threatened in a sudden flash.
Those who have not been affected remain complacent. Yes, it happens -- to someone else. Until it happens to them.
I am including Castle Coalition's blog that provides up-to-date information on what's happening around the country. This website is sponsored by the Institute for Justice.
http://www.castlecoalition.org
My ongoing opinions and findings from the human viewpoint as I tour various areas of the country and talk to people and learn of their experiences will be presented. This is about government and big business. It's also about people. It affects people. My book, STOLEN FIELDS, tells about the effects it had on my family. Some lives were destroyed -- but not all. What is the human cost? The experiences of other people will be presented as we go along.
Please post your comments for others to share. This is an important issue not only yesterday as it affected my family, but today as it could affect yours ---- and tomorrow -- your children and grandchildren. I am still learning about it, but I intend to become knowledgeable.
Yes, the government may need certain properties to build things that benefit the greater number of people. But it needs to pay a fair price. The Dyer family worked all their lives, building a popular and successful business. It was on valuable deep-water riverfront property. The government paid them a fraction of what it was worth. I don't know how many family members were counting on the true value for their support in their golden years, or if there was another generation waiting in the wings to carry on, but what they were paid amounts to nothing.
http://www.jeanboggio.com/ or http://www.colerithpress.com/
About Me
- Jean Boggio
- I graduated from Allegheny College in Western Pennsylvania many years ago with a degree in Drama. It was lots of fun but not very practical. I eventually became a teacher. That was also fun, but others found it fun also and there was soon an oversupply. When I tried to go back after several years out of the field to raise a family, I found it difficult to get a job. That's when my neighbor suggested I become a nurse. Plenty of jobs there. So it was back to school again for degrees in Nursing. However, I've always been an arts person at heart and had often thought about writing. People always said I wrote well. It was now or never. I began, and one thing led to another. And here I am with my first book coming off the presses and my own publishing company taking form. It's never too late.