Alan Ackerman’s National Eminent Domain blog ( http://www.nationaleminentdomain.com/ ) is the messenger and his message of July 4, 2009 is that there is a proposal being floated in North Carolina, that would permit the voters to decide whether a proposed taking for economic development is for a public use. We know Mr. Ackerman, and he is a serious and well-informed gent who wouldn’t make up a thing like that. Still, this sounds more like one of P.J. O’Rourke’s parodies than a serious legislative proposal.
Can you imagine a proposal that any other constitutional issue requiring the interpretation of a Bill of Rights provision be subject to a popular vote? Sheesh! If someone were to propose that your neighbors should get to vote on whether there is probable cause to search your house, the ACLU would have a purple conniption fit and the sky would darken with lawsuits descending on the nearest courthouse to interdict such an outrage. Yet, when it comes to eminent domain, anything goes. Reminds us of our cherished belief that we formulated over a period of decades, that there is some evil magic about eminent domain that causes otherwise sensible people to say silly things.
Mr. Ackerman’s blog does not identify the North Carolina worthies who came up with this brain storm, but it might be interesting to know who they are and what were they thinking — assuming they were thinking at all.