Last Friday, the Supreme Court made a landmark case decision. If you're a homeowner, or prospective one, you should find the implications of this a little disconcerting.

Here's an excerpt of what Friday's California Association of Realtors (CAR) news wire noted.

SUPREME COURT RULINGS ERODE PRIVATE PROPERTY RIGHTS

The U.S. Supreme Court issued [a] surprise ruling recently that seriously undermines private property rights. In a 5-4 vote last week, the Justices ruled that government may invoke its power of "eminent domain" to seize private property from unwilling sellers. The case was brought by a small group of residents in New London, Connecticut who refused to sell their property to make way for a large-scale commercial development project. The Court went on to uphold the government's exercise of eminent domain in this case, reasoning that the taking of private property to promote the city's economic development, which includes creating new jobs and increasing tax revenues, is a public purpose that falls within the public use requirement of the Fifth Amendment. The court ruled that as long as the goal is to create new jobs or raise tax revenue, the city could seize the properties even if they are not "blighted".

This seriously lowers the bar a government body has to clear to seize land from an individual owner only to hand it off to rich developers in the name of higher tax revenue and property taxes. Granted, the former owners must still be compensated for the sale of their home, so it's not entirely robbery, but I'm not a fan of the government telling me when I have to move. Are you?

Fortunately, I have less to worry about because I live in California, a state with strong property rights...right? As long as you let your legislators know what's important to you, we can keep it that way. Currently, California governmental bodies can only exercise eminent domain if the area is first proven to be "blighted".

Just one more reason you can remind your neighbor to mow his lawn this summer.