Kelo’s Revenge: Pfizer Abandons New London Site After Town Used Eminent Domain to Destroy Homes of Residents
jonathanturley
Many of us expressed outrage at the actions of the city leaders of New London, Connecticut when they used eminent domain to seize the property of citizens against their will in order to give it to the Pfizer corporation. This anger grew with the inexplicable decision of the Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London to uphold the abusive action. Now, after all of the pain the city caused its own residents and $80 million it spent to buy and bulldoze the property, Pfizer announced this week that it was closing the facility — leaving the city worse off than when it began. For prior testimony on the Kelo decision, click here.
There is an undeniable measure of poetic justice in all of this for a town willing to victimize citizens to benefit themselves with new jobs.
I was appalled by both the decision of the city and the Supreme Court in this controversy. What is most striking is how most citizens of New London stood by and allowed their neighbors to be thrown out of their homes to secure the benefits of a new employer in town.
