http://www.projo.com/opinion/contributors/content/projo_20060627_ctkelo.184b368.html
Kelo on Kelo: I'll keep my illusions
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006
NEW LONDON
A YEAR AGO last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that my home can be taken by the government and handed over to another private party for its private use. The only requirements are that the city must have some plan in place that says another owner can create more jobs and pay more taxes than I do.
There went my property rights -- and yours, too.
Hardly a day goes by as I work in my garden or have a cup of coffee in my kitchen, both of which overlook the Thames River and Long Island Sound, that I don't ask myself, "If I had to do it all over again, would I?" Even on my worst days, and there are many, my answer is the same: "Absolutely yes."
It was in February 1998 that I first heard that Pfizer Inc. was coming to New London. I remember thinking that this was going to be trouble for us in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, right next door to where the company was coming. Little did I know just how prophetic that thought was.
I immediately phoned Lloyd Beachy, the mayor then, who said he shared my concern and would take the side of the homeowners. He suggested that I call a local activist to see what I could do to defend my home.
Since that day, Lloyd and thousands of other people have become my sounding boards, my comrades in arms, and my best friends. Over 500 came to New London from as far away as Kentucky and Texas for a rally last July 5 to protest the notorious Supreme Court decision that carries my name. Without their support and that of the Institute for Justice, my fight would have been over years ago.
Where do I stand at this point? I think what I have thought from the very beginning: This is my home, and no one has the right to take it from me, especially for the vague concept of "economic development." I tell you honestly, and from my heart, that nothing will cause me to change my goals or my values.
Mark Twain wrote, "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." My illusion has been, and will continue to be, that my home is mine.
Had the City of New London needed our homes for a school or a fire station, we would have understood that it was truly a "public use" and we would have complied. But there is no public use here. Building a hotel or upscale condominiums so someone else can live here is not a public use or even a public purpose. And in fact there are no specific plans for the land where our homes stand.
What do I think should happen now? What I thought should happen eight years ago: I and the Cristofaro family, who are also holdouts, should be allowed to keep our homes and live in peace. We should be able to pass these homes on to our children and grandchildren. This is America, isn't it?
[Editor's note: On June 5, the New London City Council voted 5 to 2 to authorize the city attorney to obtain a court order to seize and demolish the homes of Susette Kelo and Michael Cristofaro.]
Doesn't that simple desire define the safety and security of the American Dream? That is the dream that U.S. Justices Kennedy and Stevens and Souter and Ginsberg and Breyer gave away.
Last September, when we again received eviction notices, our governor, Jodi Rell, intervened on our behalf, asking the New London Development Corporation to rescind those notices and declare a moratorium on eminent domain until the legislature had had time to consider a bill to protect Connecticut property owners. An informal moratorium is in place to protect those whose homes were condemned after mine, but it is not retroactive.
But in any case, the legislature failed to act, so all Connecticut property owners are now in the same boat as I.
This has been a stressful eight years. More often than not, I wake up exhausted and wonder if it is all worth it. But though I've lost my rights and my property, I cannot quit.
The threat of eminent domain continues even though Governor Rell asked that our homes be incorporated in the redevelopment project; the City Council rejected that request, choosing instead to evict us. We now face the prospect that when the wrecking crew is trundling down the road, the city councilors -- my own city officials, who are supposed to protect my rights -- will have us dragged from our homes.
Nevertheless, I and the others who remain, who are outraged at this gross violation of our basic civil rights, still plan to keep our homes. That's how much they mean to us. We plan to keep fighting.
At some point, a day of reckoning will come for all. We will all have to answer for things we've done or failed to do. On that day, I would much rather be me than be the people trying to take my home.
Susette Kelo was the lead plaintiff in Kelo v. City of New London, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private property could be taken for private economic development.
Kelo on Kelo: I'll keep my illusions
01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, June 27, 2006
NEW LONDON
A YEAR AGO last Friday, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that my home can be taken by the government and handed over to another private party for its private use. The only requirements are that the city must have some plan in place that says another owner can create more jobs and pay more taxes than I do.
There went my property rights -- and yours, too.
Hardly a day goes by as I work in my garden or have a cup of coffee in my kitchen, both of which overlook the Thames River and Long Island Sound, that I don't ask myself, "If I had to do it all over again, would I?" Even on my worst days, and there are many, my answer is the same: "Absolutely yes."
It was in February 1998 that I first heard that Pfizer Inc. was coming to New London. I remember thinking that this was going to be trouble for us in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, right next door to where the company was coming. Little did I know just how prophetic that thought was.
I immediately phoned Lloyd Beachy, the mayor then, who said he shared my concern and would take the side of the homeowners. He suggested that I call a local activist to see what I could do to defend my home.
Since that day, Lloyd and thousands of other people have become my sounding boards, my comrades in arms, and my best friends. Over 500 came to New London from as far away as Kentucky and Texas for a rally last July 5 to protest the notorious Supreme Court decision that carries my name. Without their support and that of the Institute for Justice, my fight would have been over years ago.
Where do I stand at this point? I think what I have thought from the very beginning: This is my home, and no one has the right to take it from me, especially for the vague concept of "economic development." I tell you honestly, and from my heart, that nothing will cause me to change my goals or my values.
Mark Twain wrote, "Don't part with your illusions. When they are gone, you may still exist, but you have ceased to live." My illusion has been, and will continue to be, that my home is mine.
Had the City of New London needed our homes for a school or a fire station, we would have understood that it was truly a "public use" and we would have complied. But there is no public use here. Building a hotel or upscale condominiums so someone else can live here is not a public use or even a public purpose. And in fact there are no specific plans for the land where our homes stand.
What do I think should happen now? What I thought should happen eight years ago: I and the Cristofaro family, who are also holdouts, should be allowed to keep our homes and live in peace. We should be able to pass these homes on to our children and grandchildren. This is America, isn't it?
[Editor's note: On June 5, the New London City Council voted 5 to 2 to authorize the city attorney to obtain a court order to seize and demolish the homes of Susette Kelo and Michael Cristofaro.]
Doesn't that simple desire define the safety and security of the American Dream? That is the dream that U.S. Justices Kennedy and Stevens and Souter and Ginsberg and Breyer gave away.
Last September, when we again received eviction notices, our governor, Jodi Rell, intervened on our behalf, asking the New London Development Corporation to rescind those notices and declare a moratorium on eminent domain until the legislature had had time to consider a bill to protect Connecticut property owners. An informal moratorium is in place to protect those whose homes were condemned after mine, but it is not retroactive.
But in any case, the legislature failed to act, so all Connecticut property owners are now in the same boat as I.
This has been a stressful eight years. More often than not, I wake up exhausted and wonder if it is all worth it. But though I've lost my rights and my property, I cannot quit.
The threat of eminent domain continues even though Governor Rell asked that our homes be incorporated in the redevelopment project; the City Council rejected that request, choosing instead to evict us. We now face the prospect that when the wrecking crew is trundling down the road, the city councilors -- my own city officials, who are supposed to protect my rights -- will have us dragged from our homes.
Nevertheless, I and the others who remain, who are outraged at this gross violation of our basic civil rights, still plan to keep our homes. That's how much they mean to us. We plan to keep fighting.
At some point, a day of reckoning will come for all. We will all have to answer for things we've done or failed to do. On that day, I would much rather be me than be the people trying to take my home.
Susette Kelo was the lead plaintiff in Kelo v. City of New London, in which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that private property could be taken for private economic development.
