In June 2005, the owners of a various frames and brick houses in the neighborhood around Fort Trumbull lost a case in the supreme against their forced eviction from their homes. This was the last hope for these citizens who were now frustrated and devastated. This was as a result of the government signing a contract with a private developer. The private developer would put up office and apartment buildings which would fetch more revenue in the form of tax for the government as compared to the scanty brick and frame houses of the poor citizens (Salzman 2). This came with a lot of scorn from many activists and many lawyers saw it as an unlawful procedure. Do you agree with the lawyers that it was a breach of human rights? And what would you do, or what measures would you put in place as the private developer to see to it that the people got justice?
However the Susette Kelo was an isolated case since I other places, the people had taken the cases to court and won the battles. Other courts have ruled against such private developers’ action and maintained the rights of property owners. The court that ruled against Mrs. Kelo and her neighbors has come under refutation, and the ruling has been under review in the federal court. Many lawyers across the nation saw the ruling be one with an unavoidable backlash. Many supreme courts have come out to prohibit such tyrant rule of a government to render its people homeless for mere economic gain. Do know of any other such isolated cases like that of Mrs. Kelo and neighbors?
This eviction of property owners on the plight of private developers has been termed as “corporate theft.” It is seen as a selfish move by the political class for their gain in the name of national economic empowerment (Blomquist 17). The major lesson learned from Connecticut's calamity, it is that economic development that depends on the robust arm of government will not ever be the kind to produce justifiable growth.
References
Salzman, Avi and Laura Mansnerus. "For Homeowners Frustration and Anger t Court Ruling." The New York Times 24 June 2005.
Blomquist, R. F. (2001). American Road Rage: A Scary and Tangled Cultural-Legal Pastiche. Neb. L. Rev., 80, 17.
