It is understandable that individuals are more passionate about property rights issues that have a direct impact on their lives. For example, rural Texans are more concerned about eminent domain, water rights, and endangered species regulations, and they have little or no concern about historic preservation or tree protection ordinances. Urban Texans are more concerned…
The former mayor of Anaheim, California, Curt Pringle, has an inspiring story about how his city was able to redevelop a large area without using eminent domain. He insisted that property rights would be protected, or redevelopment would not occur. “Freedom” quickly became the motto of my administration. In fact, our local paper, the Orange…
Calls for new laws regarding the use of eminent domain echo across the state. Rural land owners are finding their property seized to build pipelines and a railroad. In south Texas, property owners are facing seizure to build the border wall. While stating their support for property rights, many prominent Texas politicians have defended the…
Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America, by Timothy Sandefur and Christina Sandefur, presents a compelling story about the importance of property rights. Private property rights are not just dry abstractions of political philosophy. Nor is property a mere economic concept. Like the freedoms of speech or religion, private property affects our everyday…
The Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution states that private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. In the years since, this has been a source of great controversy. What is a public use? And what is just compensation? In this brief, we will examine the latter issue. To fully…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on October 14, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. When an individual abandons principles he approaches each issue in isolation from other issues. He has no way to integrate or connect seemingly separate issues, and deals with each on a case-by-case basis. The resulting conclusions are often contradictory,…
This was originally posted on Live Oaks on April 22, 2009. Comments have not been migrated. I previously wrote about the use of eminent domain by the Texas Medical Center to seize land for an expansion. Now, the Texas legislature is considering a bill that will strip Houston’s largest employer of most of its eminent…