Take From the Poor and Give to the Rich

Today's LAT has an excellent feature by John-Thor Dahlburg exposing one of the most egregious examples of eminent domain abuse I've ever seen. Essentially, the city government in Riviera Beach, Florida wants to condemn the homes of 18% of its residents (6,000 families) to make way for a marina and high-end residential development. But wait, it get's better: the population of Riviera Beach is predominantly black and less affluent, in spite of its waterfront location across the inlet from Palm Beach. So, the city wants to buy the homes of its poor minority citizens at fire-sale prices and then use this land to build a playground for wealthy retirees and tourists, all in the name of economic development.

The Washington Times also ran a story by Joyce Howard Price on this travesty back in October.