If man in the state of nature be so free, as has been said; if he be absolute lord of his own person and possessions, equal to the greatest, and subject to no body, why will he part with his freedom? -- John Locke, Two Treatises of Government (1689)
No person shall <sic> be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation. -- Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution
A regulation that deprives an owner of all economically beneficial uses of land constitutes a taking unless the proscribed use interests were not part of the title to begin with. In other words, a law or decree with the effect of depriving all economically beneficial use must do no more than duplicate the result that could have been achieved in the courts under the law of nuisance. --Lucas v. South Carolina Coastal CouncilJune 29, 1992
The theory of Communism may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. -- Das Manifest der Kommunistischen Partei (1848), by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels
The governmental taking of property from one private owner to give to another in furtherance of economic development constitutes a permissible "public use" under the Fifth Amendment. Supreme Court of Connecticut affirmed. -- Kelo v. City of New London23 June2005
USS Pivot (AM-276), United States Navy World War II Admirable-class minesweeper shown in the Gulf of Mexico on sea trials 12 July 1944. My grandfather served aboard this ship during World War II
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