KELO Crunch Time Clearly Begins Tomorrow
June 1 UPDATE: And Then There Were Four
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It’s clear from recent headlines that nothing is going to be settled tomorrow in the New London Kelo situation, and, though it won’t be formalized by New London City Council until next week, Kelo Crunch Time will begin. If form holds (”form” meaning that nothing happens until the issue is forced by a deadline or similar time pressure), Crunch Time will last at least 90-plus days before a final resolution occurs.
Did I say “KELO situation” and “KELO Crunch Time”? Yes, because “Kelo” seems to have become a four-letter word that the AP oddly won’t utter:
Deadline approaches but no deal expected in Fort Trumbull dispute
May 30, 2006NEW LONDON, Conn. –Though facing an eviction deadline Wednesday, the residents whose Fort Trumbull neighborhood has been seized by eminent domain don’t expect anything to happen for nearly a week and expect more legal battles before the case is resolved.
The dispute over the waterfront New London property reached the U.S. Supreme Court last year, when a divided court ruled that the city could take the land for a private development. (Take a look at the pink house at the previous post and tell me what is “waterfront” about it. The Fort Trumbull area as a whole is on the waterfront, but the “disputed property” is most definitely not. — Ed.)
Most of the neighborhood has been razed but a handful of homeowners refuse to leave. They’d be kicked out of their homes if a deal wasn’t reached by Wednesday.
But since the City Council, which would need to approve any action, doesn’t meet until Monday, an attorney for the homeowners says Wednesday’s deadline isn’t set in stone.
“Nothing is going to happen one way or the other tomorrow,” Bullock said.
Neither the excerpt, nor the rest of the article, contains the word “Kelo.” That’s like talking about Norma McCorvey’s unsuccessful attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade without mentioning the case title itself (which of course this article does not fail to do).
Does the AP not want articles about the KELO situation found by search engine users?
I can’t be the only person who thinks that the way the actual situation in New London turns out as a result of the (ahem) KELO decision might reflect on how well thought-out (or not) that KELO decision was in the first place.
As to developments on the ground, assuming Council acts as expected in its meeting next Monday, it looks like a 90-day eviction clock will start ticking shortly thereafter. That clock would run out on roughly Labor Day, well over 13 months after the KELO v. New London case was decided at the Supreme Court.
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UPDATE: Reax from Ken at It Comes in Pints — “Unbelievable. I’ve been trying to absorb this all day. I still can’t freakin’ believe this utter nonsense.”
UPDATE 2: Other Reax –
- The No Kool Aid Zone — ” the New London thieves are going to continue in their plan to steal the homeowners’ property even though they no longer ‘need’ it. This just defines the word ‘infuriating’.”
- Atlas Blogged notes that states have been notoriously slow in enacting anti-eminent domain legislation with teeth.
UPDATE 3, May 31, 11 p.m.: Following up on the “waterfront” characterization above, here is the “waterfront” location of Suzette Kelo’s house –
Here is a Google Earth view (don’t know how recent, but it looks like the properties in question are all within the rectangle above and to the left of the Kelo house):
