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L&L-12-12- Victory Over Eminent Domain in Virginia

December
2012

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By Steven Anderson

Property rights are the foundation of all our rights. It is difficult
to imagine the freedom of religion without the right to own a church or
the right to free speech without the right to own a printing press. With
that critical principle in mind, amid the fuss and flurry of this year’s
presidential election, Virginians overwhelmingly passed—by a 3-1
margin—Question 1, a constitutional amendment designed to permanently end
the abuse of eminent domain in the Commonwealth.

A fitting exclamation point as one of the final pieces of IJ’s Hands
Off My Home campaign—which began mere days after the U.S. Supreme Court’s
infamous Kelo decision—Question 1 protects the rights of homeowners and
small business owners in several substantial ways. The amendment declares
that property rights are fundamental, a clear signal to an engaged
judiciary to take a critical look at government takings. It remedies a
constitutional quirk by removing the General Assembly’s power to redefine
public use from session to session, levels the playing field on
compensation, explicitly rejects the Kelo rationale by stating
economic development is not a public use, and requires the government to
prove that an actual and legitimate public use exists. Since IJ’s campaign
began more than seven years ago, 44 states have changed their laws to
better protect property. Virginia became the 12th state to ratify a
constitutional amendment.

The victory caps off five years of work by IJ to promote this reform,
working with a broad coalition of groups, including the state affiliates
of the Farm Bureau and the National Federation of Independent Business. As
a team, we met with newspaper editorial boards and the public to explain
the virtues of the amendment—which now allows all Virginians to keep what
they have worked so hard to own.

Steven Anderson is the Institute's chief financial
officer.

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