The right to own and use private property is among the most essential human rights and the essential basis for economic growth. That's why America's Founders guaranteed it in the Constitution. Yet in today's America, government tramples on this right in countless ways. Regulations forbid people to use their property as they wish, bureaucrats extort enormous fees from developers in exchange for building permits, and police departments snatch personal belongings on the suspicion that they were involved in crimes. In the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court even declared that government may seize homes and businesses and transfer the land to private developers to build stores, restaurants, or hotels. That decision was met with a firestorm of criticism across the nation. In this, the first book on property rights to be published since the Kelo decision, Timothy Sandefur surveys the landscape of private property in America's third century. Beginning with the role property rights play in human nature, Sandefur describes how America's Founders wrote a Constitution that would protect this right and details the gradual erosion that began with the Progressive Era's abandonment of the principles of individual liberty. Sandefur tells the gripping stories of people who have found their property threatened: Frank Bugryn and his Connecticut Christmas-tree farm; Susette Kelo and the little dream house she renovated; Wilhelmina Dery and the house she was born in, 80 years before bureaucrats decided to take it; Dorothy English and the land she wanted to leave to her children; and Kenneth Healing and his 17-year legal battle for permission to build a home. Thanks to the abuse of eminent domain and asset forfeiture laws, federal, state, and local governments have now come to see property rights as mere permissions, which can be revoked at any time in the name of the greater good. In this book, Sandefur explains what citizens can do to restore the Constitution's protections for this cornerstone of liberty.
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Editorial Reviews
Review
"Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner...." --Justice Sandra Day O'Connor
--This text refers to the
Audio CD
edition.
From the Back Cover
"Under the banner of economic development, all private property is now vulnerable to being taken and transferred to another private owner. . . . Nothing is to prevent the State from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory. . . . The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result."
—Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, dissenting in the Supreme Court case Kelo v. New London
—Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, dissenting in the Supreme Court case Kelo v. New London
"This timely and compelling book will greatly interest anyone seeking a better understanding of the state of property rights in America today. Concerned citizens and activists will find resources and inspiration in each chapter."
—Chip Mellor, President, Institute for Justice
"Timothy Sandefur demonstrates why private property rights are central to a stable society and economic freedom, and what steps we can take to protect those rights in the wake of the Supreme Court's Kelo decision."
—Sen. John Cornyn (R-Texas)
"For many lawyers and economists, private property is an abstract institution justified for its long-term social advantages. But for Tim Sandefur, property lies at the heart of every individual’s personal identity and self-worth. Read his harrowing accounts of what happens when property rights are trampled here at home, and you see that the human dimension of property rights cannot be neglected in an ongoing debate that shapes the future well-being of our nation."
—Richard Epstein, University of Chicago Law School
"In this timely volume Timothy Sandefur convincingly documents the importance of property rights to a free society, as well as the intellectual and political assaults on the rights of property owners starting in the Progressive Era. Sandefur offers constructive suggestions for legal changes that would enhance the rights of owners and restore the vision of the Framers that linked property with individual liberty. This book is a welcome addition to the growing literature on economic rights."
—James W. Ely Jr., Vanderbilt University Law School
"Reading Tim Sandefur’s excellent new book helps highlight how the Kelo decision betrays, and arms those who continue to oppose, America’s efforts to erase racially imposed economic disparities within our society."
– Dennis Hayes, General Counsel, NAACP, Baltimore, Maryland
--This text refers to the
Paperback
edition.
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More About the Author
Timothy Sandefur is a Principal Attorney at the Pacific Legal Foundation. As the lead attorney in the Economic Liberty Project, he works to protect businesses against abusive government regulation. He has won important victories for free enterprise in California, Missouri, Oregon, and other states. He also works to prevent the abuse of eminent domain, having participated in many significant eminent domain cases, including Kelo v. New London. He is the author of two books, Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st Century America (2006), and The Right to Earn A Living: Economic Freedom And The Law (2010), as well as some 40 scholarly articles on subjects ranging from eminent domain and economic liberty to copyright, evolution and creationism, slavery and the Civil War, and legal issues in Shakespeare and ancient Greek drama. He is a graduate of Chapman University School of Law and Hillsdale College. He is an Adjunct Scholar with the Cato Institute, and his articles have appeared in Liberty, National Review, The San Francisco Chronicle, Regulation, and The Washington Times, among other places. He is a frequent guest on radio and television programs, including the Jim Lehrer News Hour, The Armstrong and Getty Show, NPR's This American Life, CNBC's Street Signs, Now with David Brancaccio and CPSAN's Book TV.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Few books offer so succinct or specific a set of insights connecting property rights to democratic principles as in Property Rights in 21st Century America, a survey of property rights as linked to issues of freedom and personal identity. Here are ideas for legal changes to the existing system which would enhance owner rights and individual liberties: here also are historical and political as well as social considerations of property rights issues as they relate to the constitution and society. College-level collections will find this essential.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
Every now and again, I am exceptionally pleased with a book purchase. Such is the case with Property Rights. Sandefur clearly and concisely discusses the diminution of property rights in America. Surprisingly, I gleaned as much information from this book's 161 pages (including index and footnotes), as I usually do in much lengthier books. Property Rights will be included with my must-read recommendations.
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
life, liberty, and property are rights we claim as human beings, and they are inseparable from each other. giving our consent to be governed does not diminish these rights.
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I love the way Tim writes. It's deep and informative, but he phrases things in such a way that average people can understand him and he uses tons of examples to defend his position.
Format:Hardcover
This book is a very powerful indictment of the decline of property rights in the US. It starts with a valuable and concise history of the philosophical underpinnings of private property rights and then details some of the worst abuses of government power in taking property rights from Americans. I love Tim Sandefur and have heard him interviewed several time on the Armstrong and Getty Show, but I wish there had been more helpful suggestions on how to reverse this trend. One way to start would be to get everyone to read this book.
Format:Paperback
Sandefur covers it ALL, hits the nail on the head, and cites almost every relevant influential person to ever live, making it a great resource to have. Additionally, this dense boost of an education will teach you everything you should learn, if you have not already, before even whispering your opinion in any governmental, policy or legal discussion. I HIGHLY recommend this book. I'll be getting copies for friends and family who could use some enlightenment in 126 easy-to-read pages. I won't be getting copies, however, for those who are lost causes, like my Con Law professor, who decided to skip KELO completely! Ridiculous.
Citations (learn more)
This book cites 100
books:
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- How Progressives Rewrote the Constitution by Richard A. Epstein in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain by Richard A. Epstein in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Commentaries on the Laws of England (Vol. 4) by William Blackstone on page 64, Back Matter (1), and Back Matter (2)
- Property Rights: Volume 11, Part 2 (Social Philosophy and Policy) (v. 11, Pt. 2) by Ellen Frankel Paul in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
- Abuse of Power: How the Government Misuses Eminent Domain by Steven M. Greenhut in Back Matter (1), Back Matter (2), and Back Matter (3)
See all 100 books this book cites
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