Reaction to Kelo: Curiously Strong

I have been surprised by the negative reaction from both left and right to the Supreme Court's recent Kelo decision--the one dealing with eminent domain for redevelopment purposes in New London, Conn. The only people I've heard say good things about Kelo are representatives of state and local governments. No else seems to like it, one bit. I'm not surprised by the reaction itself, but at the intensity of it. Why such a curiously strong reaction?

As a few other bloggers have noted, some of the negative reaction is explained by hostility to the idea of eminent domain itself. Now, the latest decision doesn't change that. But just reminding people that the government can condemn private property taps some of that hostility.

From the left, the decision looks like dispossessing relatively poor people in favor of the wealthy and corporations. And those on the left don't like that. But why the intensity? My guess is that there is a lot of frustration on the left with government policy, in general, but especially community development policy. Think of the debates over sports stadiums in recent years. Private companies get cities to build them facilities at the taxpayers' expense. Communities offer tax abatements to get businesses to move in. From the left, it looks like corporations get very special treatment from the government--and that is, indeed, the case. And Kelo fits into that trend in a rather dramatic way. So, from the liberal side, this is a case of corporate power run amok.

From the right, the issue is property rights. Just as liberals worry about government-corporate linkages, conservatives are concerned with government power interfering with the prerogatives of property owners. Now, lots of times the property rights issue is tied into corporate interests, but not in this case. Indeed, I haven't heard anyone on the right say, "Hey, what's good for corporations is good for the community--jobs, tax revenue, etc." Instead, conservatives see this decision as government overreaching.

Not to put too fine a point on it, both liberals and conservatives can see one of their least favorite trends in Kelo, again, in a very dramatic fashion. That must be it. Because the decision itself seems to me to be pretty much in line with previous decisions--even if it moves that line a little further, still on the line.