Joel Hefley: “this bill attempts to right a great wrong. The Supreme Court's June 23 ruling in the case of Kelo v. the City of New…”

“this bill attempts to right a great wrong. The Supreme Court's June 23 ruling in the case of Kelo v. the City of New London struck at the heart of American liberties, effectively eliminating the pursuit of happiness or property as a basic unalienable right. I think events since then have proven that the Court was wrong, at least in the eyes of the American people. According the Institute for Justice, eminent domain reform legislation will be considered in 35 states over the next year. Justice John Paul Stevens, who wrote an opinion in favor of the Kelo decision, recently said he was troubled by the policy implications of the ruling and that, if he were a legislator, he would work to change it. And, in a final stroke of justice, New London City Council recently fired the New London Development Corporation that was at the heart of the Kelo case. Unfortunately, this action came after $73 million in public dollars were spent and after it had razed virtually the entire Fort Trumbull neighborhood. Akhil Reed Amar, a Yale law professor and author of the book America's Constitution, recently observed that the Supreme Court's exalted status as the infallible interpreter of the Constitution is a fairly recent phenomenon and that the Court has been proven wrong before. He pointed to the Dred Scott decision as one example. This is another. And when the Supreme Court is wrong, it is the duty of this body, the Congress, to correct it.…”