Public Benefit' = Private Profit

Public Benefit' = Private Profit

Jacob Sullum | June 7, 2007, 12:24pm

Yesterday a federal judge dismissed a lawsuit challenging the condemnation of a dozen or so homes and businesses in Brooklyn to make way for a $4 billion, 22-acre project that is expected to include a basketball arena, office space, and apartments.......the courts will uphold any condemnation that's part of a project expected to create jobs, generate new tax revenue, or provide some other "public benefit."

On a recent episode of the FX series The Riches, the sleazy developer who employs one of the main characters was able to fend off an eminent domain challenge by adding a skating rink to his project. Unfortunately, this is close enough to the current state of the law that I don't think it counts as satire.

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Sounds like the some of the scriptwriters for FX live in Brooklyn. With this ruling, the patriot act, the democrats ignoring voter mandate on the Iraq war, 70% of International companies paying no income tax in the US, its safe to say the system is clearly broken. We have an elite that is doing what the want, when they want, no wonder they're so keen on revoking the right to bear arms.