Below The Beltway

In the annals of Supreme Court history, there are perhaps only a handful of cases that go down in history as more egregious than what happened in Suzette Kelo v. City of New London.
In that case, the Supreme Court approved an eminent domain taking by the City of New London, Connecticut that involved taking the [...]

Americans have long looked to the Supreme Court as the last bastion of their liberties and as the one institution that stands as a check against the encroachments of an Executive Branch eager to expand its power and and a Legislative Branch intent on satisfying the whims of a grasping majority. As Robert Levy and [...]

Many on the right side of the blogosphere have gotten upset over the story about an Oregon apartment complex that told residents to take down an American flag:
ALBANY, Ore. – At the Oaks Apartments in Albany, the management can fly their own flag advertising one and two bedroom apartments – but residents have been told [...]

The Wall Street Journal reports on another impending case of eminent domain abuse arising out of the planned move of the New Jersey Nets to Brooklyn:
In Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation, residents and business owners are challenging the state’s use of eminent domain to condemn private property in a Brooklyn neighborhood for [...]

The family trying to open the first winery in Fairfax County has won another battle against the County’s zoning officials:
A mother and son’s work to establish Fairfax County’s first farm winery cleared a significant hurdle Thursday when the Virginia Alcoholic Beverage Control Board gave preliminary approval on issuing a state license to Paradise Springs Winery.
Dismissing [...]

Last December, I noted that one property owner’s efforts to establish Fairfax County’s first operating winery were being blocked by Fairfax County zoning officials and neighbors. Ultimately, the zoning issues were resolved and the project was allowed to proceed forward.
Now, it seems like Fairfax County is once again moving to block the winery, now [...]

The more things change, the more they stay the same:
The Obama administration will largely preserve Bush-era procedures allowing the government to search — without suspicion of wrongdoing — the contents of a traveler’s laptop computer, cellphone or other electronic device, although officials said new policies would expand oversight of such inspections.
The policy, disclosed Thursday in [...]

Via Leslie Carbone comes this video of Ronald Regan’s acceptance speech at the 1984 Republican National Convention:

In 1980 we asked the people of America, “Are you better off than you were 4 years ago?” Well, the people answered then by choosing us to bring about a change. We have every reason now, 4 years later, [...]

Robert Stacy McCain writes about a bar owner in Colorado Springs who is facing trouble for allowing a Girls Gone Wild taping to go a little too far:
A popular Colorado Springs nightclub that was punished by the city’s liquor board with a 10-day suspension of its liquor license after several women exposed their breasts during [...]

Mississippi Governor Haley Barbour has vetoed a bill designed to restrain Kelo-type takings:
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour says he’s vetoing a bill that would limit the use of eminent domain because it would hurt the state’s ability to lure economic development projects.
The bill would’ve prevented the government from taking land for private projects. Barbour said Monday [...]