for attempting to seize land owned by a Christian group. They wanted to sell it to Costco Wholesale Corp. so the town could get more tax revenue.
I first read about this on Dave Pawlak’s blog and saw linked news and commentary at washtimes.com and townhall.com.
Apparently the land was seized by the town under the power of eminent domain. A Federal Judge ruled that a town with a 25% budget surplus has no compelling state interest to give the land to Costco. From townhall.com – “The framers of the Constitution might be surprised to learn that the power of eminent domain was being used to turn the property over to a private discount retail corporation,” he noted wryly. I don’t suppose that a town with a huge budget deficit could justify seizing that land. Next to the worldly glitz and glimmer of Disneyland is a great place for Christian church.
Most troubling about the city council’s action was the utter disregard for the interests of the group that owns the land. If it was a commericial interest or dare I say owned by another religious institution (let’s say for the sake of argument a Mosque) they wouldn’t have even considered this ill-conceived and unconstitutional scheme. Discrimnation against Christians is alive and well in this country.