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  • From: Marcia <msmartin AT ccbeunet.br>
  • To: internetworkers AT lists.ibiblio.org
  • Subject: Re: [internetworkers] Property rights advocates make protest personal (WAS no more property rights (does anybody care?)
  • Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 14:54:47 -0300

What a great idea!!....
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http://www.concordmonitor.com.
Jun 29, 2005
Weare 'Hotel' targets Souter's home
Property rights advocates make protest personal
By MEG HECKMAN
Monitor staff

A letter that emerged yesterday from the fax machine in the Weare Town
Hall has thrust Supreme Court Justice David Souter's beloved farmhouse
into a national debate over property rights.

Souter, a longtime Weare resident, joined in a court decision last week
that allows governments to seize private property from one owner and
turn it over to another if doing so would benefit a community. Now, an
outraged Californian wants to test the ruling -- by asking Weare's
selectmen to let him replace Souter's farm with a posh hotel.

"A recent Supreme Court decision. . . . clears the way for this land to
be taken," Logan Darrow Clements wrote in a letter faxed to town
officials yesterday. "The justification for such an eminent domain
action is that our hotel will better serve the public interest as it
will bring in economic development and higher tax revenue to Weare."

The letter, which included Souter's street address, was posted on
conservative pundit Rush Limbaugh's Web site yesterday afternoon,
spurring concerns in town about the reclusive justice's safety and
privacy.

Souter was attacked last year while jogging in his Washington, D.C.
neighborhood, although the police there believe it was not related to
his work in the court. While most locals here know where he lives, they
respect the justice's desire for solitude. Yesterday, for example, town
officials blacked out his address before sending a copy of a letter
about the hotel project to the Monitor.

Souter couldn't be reached by phone yesterday and had not yet returned
to Weare last evening, but a few police cruisers were parked on the
edge of his property.

"It was a precaution, just being protective," said Lt. Mark Bodanza.

Clements is the CEO of Freestar Media, a Los Angeles-based outfit that
fights "abusive" government through a Web site, a fledgling cable show
and efforts like the one in Weare. Clements, who could not be reached
yesterday, plans to move to New Hampshire soon as part of the Free
State Project, a group that supports limiting government powers.
Thousands of Free-Staters plan to move to New Hampshire in the next few
years because of its small government, few taxes and "Live Free or Die"
motto. (Other members of the project stressed that Clements's hotel
plans are not affiliated with the group.)

Clements's request fascinated the staff at town hall, and Code
Enforcement Officer Charles Meany said he passed the letter on to the
board of selectmen.

"Am I taking this seriously? But of course," said Meany, who handles
building requests. "In lieu of the recent Supreme Court decision, I
would imagine that some people are pretty much upset. If it is their
right to pursue this type of end, then by all means let the process
begin. . . . I have to allow the law to take its course."

Clements dubbed his project the Lost Liberty Hotel, and says it will
include a dining room called the Just Desserts Café and a museum
focused on "the loss of freedom in America." And those Bible-leaving
Gideons won't be welcome. Instead, Clements wants to tuck copies of
Atlas Shrugged into the night stands, giving visitors a chance to read
author Ayn Rand's individualistic tome.

Souter's two-story colonial, assessed at just more than $100,000,
brought in $2,895 in property taxes last year. A hotel, especially one
as unique as Clements's, would likely net the town a much greater tax
payment -- not to mention a potential tourism boom for local
businesses.

By mid-afternoon yesterday, Meany had received two more letters about
the project -- one from a women in Houston, Texas vowing to visit Weare
if the hotel were allowed and another from a man in McMurray, Pa.
pledging financial support if town leaders choose to hand Souter's land
over to Clements.

Both letter writers signaled their distain for the court's ruling in
Kelo vs. City of New London. The case stems from a battle between a
group of Connecticut homeowners and a city government that wants to
boost tax revenue by replacing a neighborhood with an office complex.
The majority opinion, written by Justice John Paul Stevens, said it was
up to states, not the federal government, to craft regulations around
property. Souter supported Stevens along with justices Anthony Kennedy,
Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Stephen Breyer.

Weare's selectmen planned to review the letters at its meeting last
night, and will decide how to proceed, said chairwoman Laura Buono.

"It was an interesting e-mail," she said.

Even if the five-member board were to endorse Clements's project,
zoning laws would have to be changed and the hotel would have to garner
approval from the planning board. After that, the project would fall
under Meany's watchful eye.

"The big thing is, you have to own the land before you deal with me,"
he said.

*****

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