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December 30, 2006
Laugh or cry?
A little of both, I guess - Kelo v. the saints!
St. Louis' redevelopment agency sued a convent, a saint, a nun and an elderly woman in a wheelchair who has a 999-year lease on Friday, seeking to use eminent domain to condemn a property in the Ice House District north of Soulard.
City officials hope the area will be a hip entertainment district one day, but first they have to remove stubborn landowners and tenants.
The suit, filed in St. Louis Circuit Court, says the city's Land Clearance for Redevelopment Authority has been unable to agree on a price for 1119-1127 South Broadway, owned by the Convent of the Sacred Heart.
The land and buildings have been leased for no rent to Salvatore and Mabel Inserra for a 999-year term, according to an appraisal supplied by the Inserras' lawyer, Francis X. Duda.
The Inserras have leased the 13,660-square-foot property since at least the early 1980s. Salvatore Inserra, a longtime Soulard Market produce seller, died at work in 1985 at age 60.
The suit also names property owners from centuries ago and their heirs, including John Mullanphy, said to be St. Louis' first millionaire, a nun and "Philipini Duchesne." The suit appears to be referring to St. Rose Phillipine Duchesne, who founded a school for the Society of the Sacred Heart of Jesus in a cabin in St. Charles in 1818, according to the Vatican. She died in 1852 and was canonized in 1988.
Posted by Amy Welborn | Permalink
Comments
So this is land only, and not convent grounds proper? Not quite so bad as bulldozing a convent.
People were predicting Kelo would fall harder on tax-exempt owners like churches and religious orders.
Posted by: Kevin Jones at Dec 30, 2006 12:07:20 PM
This situation is the result of probably one of the most unAmerican and rotten decisions made by the liberal wing of the U.S. Supreme Court. That privately owned land can be taken from one private owner by eminent domain (and very frequently corrupt collusion between greedy business entities and crooked local politicians) and then turned over to another private party (instead of using the land to build a school, firehouse, etc.) should have been THE major court issue in the last election. But all the MSM did (to protect their liberal court favorites) was to talk about abortion, abortion, and more abortion. WHY? Because many polls showed as many as 95% of the American people were angered by this liberal rape of every American's right to his homestead. The way this issue was ignored and downplayed in the MSM is just another perfect example of the gross ideological corruption which has made their news product into nothing but left-wing propaganda.
Posted by: Deacon John M. Bresnahan at Dec 30, 2006 7:44:51 PM
Well, St. Louis was recently named the most dangerous city in America. I am so proud to live around here.
Posted by: Christopher Johnson at Dec 31, 2006 3:45:07 PM
