The month before Justice Sandra Day O'Connor announced her retirement in 2005, she dissented from Supreme Court decisions in two cases that illustrated the twin perils of local tyranny and federal overreach. O'Connor, who was appointed to the Court by Ronald Reagan in 1981 and died last Friday at 93, eloquently explained why property rights are especially important for people with little political influence and how state autonomy allows policy experiments that promote progressive as well as conservative goals.
In Kelo v. New London, nine owners of homes in that Connecticut city challenged the use of eminent domain to take their property in the name of economic development. The five-justice majority agreed with the city that transferring property from one private owner to another can qualify as "public use" under the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause when it is expected to create jobs and boost tax revenue.
