House Judiciary Committee Tackles Eminent Domain
House Judiciary Committee Tackles Eminent Domain
WASHINGTON (CN) - The House Judiciary Committee amended the Private Property Rights Protection Act so that states that use eminent domain to seize land for private development can be penalized - especially in instances where a violation "has a disproportionately high impact on the poor or minorities."
"These are very good amendments. They improve the bill and I support them," said the bill's co-sponsor, Rep. Jim Sensenbrenner, R-Wis.
The amendments were introduced by Sheila Jackson Lee, D-Texas, a former member of the Houston City Council of Houston, who said she's seen "the disparities in the utilization of eminent domain."
The bipartisan bill, introduced as H.R. 1433 by Reps. Sensenbrenner and Maxine Waters, D-Calif., is an answer to U.S. Supreme Court ruling in Kelo v. City of New London, a 5-4 decision giving the government the power to use eminent domain to transfer land from one private property owner to another to further economic development.
http://www.courthousenews.com/2012/01/25/43312.htm