eminent domain

In a recent Legal Update, I discussed a notorious case, Kelo v. City of New London, in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the use of eminent domain to…

The Castle Coalition is a national membership organization made up of homeowners and small business owners that want to protect their property from eminent domain abuse. To help its…

What is “the market price?” For two people, a buyer and a seller of any products or service, the market price is that price that is mutually agreed upon in…

Click here to view and here to listen to Daren Bakst discussing this Spotlight report. RALEIGH — Legislators should provide real property-rights protections as they pursue a constitutional…

There is optimism that an eminent domain amendment will pass this upcoming legislative session. This Spotlight explains how to craft the amendment carefully to best protect property owners.

This report highlights eleven action items that North Carolina’s new General Assembly should seek to implement in the first 100 days of the 2011 legislative session. These items touch upon a cross section of public policy areas, including education, economic development, property rights, energy and the environment, health care, the budget, and transparency. We at the John Locke Foundation believe that these items represent straightforward actions that would greatly enhance the liberty and prosperity of North Carolina’s citizens.

RALEIGH — Legislators can prove that they care as much about people as they do about open space, if they make a simple change to an eminent domain bill moving…

In North Carolina, the government can invoke eminent domain and seize private property even if reasonable alternatives exist to using this power. A recent Senate bill (SB 600) would allow conservation easement holders to challenge takings in court by requiring the government to prove that no prudent and feasible alternatives exist to condemnation of properties encumbered by conservation easements.

Real reform of the state’s regressive annexation law does not mean getting rid of annexation generally or even city-initiated annexation. However, it should mean getting rid of the practice of forced annexation that allows municipalities to unilaterally force individuals in unincorporated areas to live within the municipalities.

During policy discussions, much is made of the greed of private individuals, but rarely is government greed mentioned. Government greed is the lust for power that consumes policymakers — the desire to do whatever it takes to stay in power and to give government more power. In the North Carolina legislature, government greed is alive and well. Ten policy examples discussed in this report reasonably attest to this lust for power.