Restoring the Constitution: Afflict Liberals with New Deal Precedent (Part II)

In Berman v. Parker (1954) the Court held that cities can condemn property in poor neighborhoods to refurbish “blighted” communities. In essence, Berman allows for the lawful taking of property from the poor which is, in turn, given to wealthy land developers. The poor also loses because their “just compensation” is extremely low for depressed lands and therefore the compensation is inadequate for the poor to find a new home in a decent community. In essence, Berman is a significant cause for homelessness. In Kelo v. New London (2005) the Court held that taking private property for private purposes is permissible if the takings would result in a public benefit such as more jobs and more tax revenue. Hence, the Court changed the meaning of the Takings Clause from “public use” to “public benefit”. Kelo is dangerous precedent because no one is safe from these types of takings: local governments can simply condemn your home and give the property to a land development company that will benefit the public with more jobs and tax revenue. Governments even use regulatory takings to take private property without just compensation. In Penn Central Transportation v. New York (1978) the Court held that a regulation making Grand Central Station a Historic Landmark that denied Penn Central from building on property they own was not only constitutional, but New York did not have to compensate Penn Central. In Tahoe-Sierra Council v. Tahoe Reginal Planning Agency (2002) the Court held that temporary takings through regulation was constitutional. In Tahoe-Sierra the Court held that regulations preventing property owners from building on their land for 20 years was not only acceptable, it can be done without just compensation. So, what is the solution? Maybe it is time for local governments to condemn liberal neighborhoods so they can build a Walmart, Target, and other national chain stores to generate jobs and more tax revenue? Or maybe the EPA can generate regulations placing a moratorium on home owners from obtaining building permits for 20 years in cities like Chicago, New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Boston, and other liberal cities. The EPA can make up some phony excuse claiming they are merely trying to prevent excessive emissions in densely populated areas. If this were to happen, liberals would be up in arms, and they may try to overturn Kelo, Berman, Tahoe-Sierra, and Penn Central and restore the Takings Clause in the Fifth Amendment. After all, targeting liberals is no different than when liberals targeted conservatives in the Obama administration (IRS and Journalists). The bottom line, if privacy is protected within the home, then shouldn’t the home and private property be protected from at least takings for private reasons as prescribed in our Constitution?

In the line of cases University of California v. Bakke (1978) and Grutter v. Bollinger (2003) the Court held that race may be used as a “plus factor” when considering diversity for admission into schools or for jobs. The Court held that using race as a quota system was unconstitutional, but using race as a determinate for admission is not much different than a quota system. They are both discriminatory. In Plessy v. Fergusson (1896) the Court held the separate but equal doctrine was constitutional. Hence, the era of racial segregation was born. In his Plessy dissent, Justice John Marshall Harlan said the Constitution was “color-blind”. But the Bakke and Bollinger cases illustrate that race “matters” as Justice Sotomayor continually reminds us in her misguided opinions. If race matters, then maybe Tanny’s ruling in Dred Scott was correct? Essentially, Bakke and Bollinger are an attempt to overcome past injustices against African-Americans. But when do we finally put an end to racial discrimination because Bakke and Bollinger are no better decisions than Dred Scott? All these opinions discriminate. Consider how the Michigan Law School in Bollinger bypassed more qualified Hispanics and Native Americans in favor of African-Americans who had lower grades and test scores. Therefore, Bollinger was discriminatory against all races at the expense of African-Americans (In other words, the Michigan Law School was not trying help minorities or women, but only blacks). Regardless, discrimination is discrimination and the Constitution does not permit it. What if conservatives pushed for “equal protection” and diversity for admissions into schools and jobs for individuals with conservative political affiliations. We know that liberals dominate positions within the public-school system: teachers and administrators. I doubt liberals will like conservatives using University of California v. Bakke and Grutter v. Bollinger precedent to uphold equal protection so more conservatives can land public teaching and administration jobs. This would counter the liberal brainwashing power in the educational process on our youth. After all, there is no difference in discriminating using race or gender and discriminating using political affiliation. The Constitution is not only color-blind, but it also does not know any political ideology or socio-economic status. But liberals cannot merely pick and choose which types of discrimination are acceptable and which forms are not. The 1961 case Anastaplo is further proof that the Court can discriminate based on political ideology. The details of this case are discussed later in this blog.