June 23, 2005

Questions for the Senate Candidates

Currently in Tennessee there are five declared candidates and one undeclared candidate for the U.S. Senate seat that will be vacated after 2006 by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist. They include four Republicans - wealthy former real estate developer Bob Corker, who as Mayor of Chattanooga was involved in redeveloping that city's waterfront; former U.S. Representative and constitutional law scholar Ed Bryant; former U.S. Rep. Van Hilleary; and current state Rep. Beth Harwell - and two Democrats, current state Rep. Rosalind Kurita and U.S. Rep. Harold Ford Jr.

In light of today's ruling by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. New London, a 5-4 decision in favor of allowing government to take private property and give it to private developers, eviscerating the "public use" doctrine of the U.S. constitution and vastly expanding the "eminent domain" powers of government, here are six questions for those candidates:

Do you believe this to be a good or bad decision, legally? Why?

And, finally, if you believe it to have been a bad decision from any of those perspectives, will you - if elected to the U.S. Senate - make it a priority to craft, sponsor, and pass legislation to restrict the power of government to take private property from one property owner and give it to another?

I'll be forwarding these questions to each of their offices or campaigns shortly after I post this to the blog, and will carry all of their answers verbatim.