Give the Heave-Ho to Kelo!

For those of you following the Kelo v. New London fiasco, wherein the Supreme Court ruled that the powers of eminent domain can now be stretched to the point where private property can be seized by a city to turn it over to commercial developers, below are some good sources that cover what this may mean for Church property as well as religious owned property (ie, convents, monasteries).

This isn't just a threat to people who own homes. Property owned by churches and religious is tax-exempt. Therefore, this property is very very vulnerable to confiscation by the state for purposes of redevelopment. There is a LOT of very valuable property owned by churches and religious... prime real estate...and the history of eminent domain abuse is literally peppered with seizures of church property.

Mirror of Justice; The Reality Check; Professor Bainbridge; The Seventh Age;

Here are some pertinent legal docs:

Amicus Curiae filed with the Supreme Court by the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty

Supreme Court Collection (Opinion, Concurrence and Dissent)

If you need convincing that this might happen, here's an example, pulled from the Amicus:

In Normandy, Missouri, the Sisters of the Good Shepherd own a large parcel that serves as a convent, retirement home for aged sisters, and a shelter for drug-addicted women. The city, however, was not content with the good deeds of the sisters and instead sought to take the religious complex and replace it with a $53 million retail and commercial development. See D. Paul Harris, Nuns in Normandy Get Ready for Fight Over Redevelopment; Sisters Say Their Area Is Lovely and City's Plan Seems "Ill-Conceived," ST. LOUIS POST- DISPATCH , July 29, 2002 at 1

Legislation is reportedly being proposed in the US Senate (as of today, the 27th) to nullify this madness... so we really need to keep our eyes on this one.