Perhaps the only good thing to come out of the now-famous case of Kelo v. City of New London was a nationwide acknowledgement of both the importance and precariousness of property rights. In the wake of this startling case, a case in which Susette Kelo’s house was taken from her and given to a private developer as part of a large corporate welfare package for Pfizer, forty-three states passed laws forbidding their governments from taking private property for the purposes of economic development or for increasing tax revenue. To add insult to Kelo’s injury, the economic redevelopment project for which her house was destroyed eventually stalled. Where the house once stood there is only a vacant lot.
Susette Kelo and her case have been back in the news. It was recently announced that Jeff Benedict’s excellent book about the Kelo case, Little Pink House, will be made into a Lifetime movie staring Brooke Shields as Susette Kelo. Benedict also recently penned an op-ed in the Hartford Courant describing how Justice Richard N. Palmer of the Connecticut Supreme Court approached Kelo and Benedict at a reception and apologized to her. Benedict touchingly describes the scene:
Read the rest of this post →Afterward, Susette and I were talking in a small circle of people when we were approached by Justice Richard N. Palmer. Tall and imposing, he is one of the four justices who voted with the 4–3 majority against Susette and her neighbors. Facing me, he said: “Had I known all of what you just told us, I would have voted differently.”
I was speechless. So was Susette. One more vote in her favor by the Connecticut Supreme Court would have changed history. The case probably would not have advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court, and Susette and her neighbors might still be in their homes.
Then Justice Palmer turned to Susette, took her hand and offered a heartfelt apology. Tears trickled down her red cheeks. It was the first time in the 12-year saga that anyone had uttered the words “I’m sorry.”
It was all she could do to whisper the words: “Thank you.”