As reported here, and blogged about here, Susette Kelo, the lead petitioner in 2005’s infamous Kelo case, has sent a holiday greeting card to her tormentors that is anything but friendly:
The text, accompanying a sparkling, snowy image of Kelo’s iconic pink house in the Fort Trumbull neighborhood, reads, in its entirety:
Here is my house that you did take
From me to you, this spell I make
Your houses, your homes
Your family, your friends
May they live in misery
That never ends.
I curse you all
May you rot in hell
To each of you
I send this spell
For the rest of your lives
I wish you ill
I send this now
By the power of will
The recipients, “some 30 or so current and former members of the City Council and New London Development Corp.” had varying reactions, from calling it “childish” because the taking of Ms. Kelo’s home was “nothing personal,” to asserting that “It’s amazing anyone could be so vindictive when they’ve made so much money.”
How do you react to statements such as these, which seem to reflect a lack of understanding or empathy for what it is like to be on the business end of eminent domain?
Yes, Ms. Kelo is angry. Yes, she is reacting badly. But her feelings are understandable. Even though the attempt to take her home was surely “nothing personal.” Recall that the Kelo majority took great pains to lay out the supposedly comprehensive process that resulted in the decision to take her property, and the record showed no evidence of ill will or governmental funny business. But does the fact that it was not a personal attack make much of a difference to a property owner?
People who are having their property involuntarily taken tend to take even objective actions badly. No one likes to have their family home, their business, or property that may be their life’s work taken away against their will, even if they eventually receive compensation. (Hawaii angle: as noted in this post, at least the mayor of Honolulu appears to recognize that no one is all that happy when their property is targeted for acquisition.)
Finally, what to make of the statement reportedly made by a recipient of the Kelo holiday card that Ms. Kelo should not be angry since she “made so much money?” Whatever you may think of the hard-won settlement achieved by Ms. Kelo and her fellow litigants who championed in the Supreme Court the issue that many thought was a dead letter, certainly money is no salve to the affront and pain she obviously feels since her government has treated her only slightly better than a common criminal, when her only offense was owning property that someone else wanted.