Weare Residents Reject “Lost Liberty Hotel”
On 6/23/2005, in the landmark Kelo vs New London decision, the U.S. Supreme Court voted to allow a private development corporation to use the legal power of eminent domain to take possession of 15 landowners’ properties in the city of New London, CT. The city government favored the interests of the corporation over the interests of its own residents for one simple reason: money. The corporation intended to build a Pfizer plant on the land, which would have resulted in more tax revenue for the city.
Americans of all political persuasions across the country reacted with shock and outrage to the Supreme Court’s decision. Logan Darrow Clements, a Californian who ran for governor in the 2003 recall election, came up with a clever idea to teach the Supreme Court justices a lesson. Justice David Souter, who voted with the majority in the Kelo Decision, owns property in Weare, New Hampshire. Clements proposed using the power of eminent domain to seize Souter’s property, including his childhood home, in order to build the “Lost Liberty Hotel†in its place. The hotel would feature the “Just Desserts†cafe, and would serve as a tourist destination bringing in new revenue for the town of Weare.
Free State Project members were divided on this idea. Some loved it, thinking it a humorous way to get revenge; even if the odds of its success were slim, it would help to educate the American public about the dangers of eminent domain. As a member of the Free State Project himself, Clements could also bring in new publicity and media attention for the FSP while publicizing the LLH. Others found the idea offensive; eminent domain is wrong, and there is no moral justification for attempting to take Souter’s, or anyone else’s, land.
Clements began a national media campaign to gain support, and funding, for his project. However, some residents of New Hampshire reacted with strong hostility to his idea, not so much because they disliked the idea of teaching Justice Souter a lesson but rather because they didn’t want an outsider telling them what to do. Some observers felt that Clements’ primary motivation was his own publicity. On 2/4/06, the town residents of Weare successfully killed Clements’ idea by proposing and passing amendments to his warrant article that invalidated its intent.
sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lost_Liberty_Hotel