Thoughts on Kelo and Judicial Activism
From Defense Attorney John Wesley Hall (author of Search and Seizure Textbook, among others):
....the Republicans decry judicial activism at every turn, but, in Kelo v. City of New London (pdf), the "liberal" majority engages in judicial passivity to permit a taking by local government to use private property for a "public purpose" by granting near total deference to the determination of local officials.
The label "judicial activism" always applies to the judges aligned with the other guy. When it's their guys doing it furthering their agenda, "well, that's just the way it goes, citizen, suck it up." When you think about it, the only mouths the words "judicial activism" come out of are from the Right, but with an agenda to threaten judges with impeachment or a constitutional amendment limiting terms. Note that they didn't think of that when Reagan-Bush packed the federal courts with about two-thirds of its active members in that twelve years.
And I sit here, with my divining rod, trying to forecast where the Court is going in the next constitutional case.
In other Kelo news, developers want to seize Justice Souter's home. Law Prof Eric Muller of IsThatLegal has some thoughts on this and a lot of links to other law profs discussing it.
Update: Skippy has a blog roundup of opinion on the case from both sides.
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