Political Quotes

“I wish to explain my vote against Mr. Michael Shea, nominee to the District Court of Connecticut. My decision is based on Mr. Shea's assistance in drafting an anticus brief in the Supreme Court case of Kelo v. New London on behalf of the Connecticut Conference of Municipalities and other municipalities. The Kelo decision delivered a serious blow to private property rights by upholding a municipality's use of eminent domain to seize private homes and transfer the property to a pharmaceutical company for purposes of ``economic development.'' As Justice Sandra Day O'Connor stated in her dissent, the ``Court abandoned its long-held, basis limitation on government power'' in the Kelo case. The Fifth Amendment of the Constitution states: ``No person shall be . . . deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.'' The Kelo decision altered what was traditionally viewed as ``public use.'' As Justice O'Connor noted, as a result of this decision, ``Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory. . . . Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random.…”