“Would that John Adams could rise from his grave tospeak for the VFW, and for property rights in twenty-firstcentury America. I believe he would observe that, if the VFW’sproperty can be taken without compensation, no property issecure.”
So says the dissenting Justice in City of Milwaukee Post No. 2874 Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States v. Redevelopment Authority of the City of Milwaukee, No. 2006AP2866 (July 17, 2009), a case in which a sharply divided court (4-3-1) held that under the “unit rule,” the VFW’s property was worthless and the VFW was not entitled to the $300,000 just compensation award.
More detail to follow after a chance to digest the various opinions.
Update: our complete summary of the opinion is posted here.