Imprimis is Hillsdale College?s monthly publication that has more than 1.25 million readers. It?s Hillsdale?s way of sharing the ideas of the many distinguished speakers invited to their campus. And, I might add, Hillsdale College is one of the few colleges where students get a true liberal arts education, absent the nonsense seen on many campuses.
The January edition of Imprimis contains an important speech by former New Jersey Superior Court Judge Andrew P. Napolitano, titled “Property Rights After the Kelo Decision.” For those who haven?t kept up, the Kelo decision is the 2005 U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 decision that upheld the city of New London, Conn., condemnation of the property of one private party so that another private party could use it to build an office facility. Such a decision was a flagrant violation of the letter and spirit of the Fifth Amendment, which reads in part, “nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation.” Public use, according to the Constitution?s framers, means uses such as roads, bridges and forts.
