The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

After relying on government to seize property for its use, leading to the Supreme Court battle in Kelo, Pfizer intends to abandon the town of New London.  Reports the New York Times:

From the edge of the Thames River in New London, Conn., Michael Cristofaro surveyed the empty acres where his parents' neighborhood had stood, before it became the crux of an epic battle over eminent domain.

"Look what they did," Mr. Cristofaro said on Thursday. "They stole our home for economic development. It was all for Pfizer, and now they get up and walk away."

That sentiment has been echoing around New London since Monday, when Pfizer, the giant drug company, announced it would leave the city just eight years after its arrival led to a debate about urban redevelopment that rumbled through the United States Supreme Court, and reset the boundaries for governments to seize private land for commercial use.

Pfizer said it would pull 1,400 jobs out of New London within two years and move most of them a few miles away to a campus it owns in Groton, Conn., as a cost-cutting measure. It would leave behind the city's biggest office complex and an adjacent swath of barren land that was cleared of dozens of homes to make room for a hotel, stores and condominiums that were never built.

Well, easy come, easy go when it comes to politicians grabbing people's property and money.  The good news is that many states changed their laws after Kelo to make it harder for government to steal land for private profit.  In that sense Susette Kelo believes that she didn't lose her home entirely in vain.  Reported the Time:  "In all honesty, I'm not happy about what happened to me," Ms. Kelo said. But, she added, "With 43 states changing their laws, in that sense I feel we did some good for people across the country."