Missouri Citizens for Property Rights seeks to restore constitutional protection against private use eminent domain.

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Missouri Citizens for
Property Rights
33867 Highway E
Dixon, MO 65459
(573) 759-3585
info@mo-cpr.org

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ESSAYS Please Read These!
Read about the historical perspective of American Property rights. (click here)

How should we deal with “blight”? (click here)

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Donate online or mail your check today to:
MO-CPR c/o Richard Westbrook, CPA
205 W Main St
Richmond, MO 64085

"The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time with the blood of patriots and tyrants. It is it’s natural manure." - Thomas Jefferson

Endorsements

The Heritage Foundation
“I endorse the worthy and valuable principals of the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights' proposed constitutional amendment to better protect property rights, and I support the enactment of any proposal like it that prevents abuses of traditional eminent domain powers and provides safeguards against the confiscation of private property for other private uses.” -Todd Gaziano, Director, Center for Legal and Judicial Studies The Heritage Foundation

Property Rights Alliance
“Property Rights Alliance (PRA) commends Missouri Citizens for Property Rights for their efforts to protect private property in the state of Missouri. With the threat of eminent domain abuse looming at the state and national level, it is imperative that organizations and activists work together to protect property owners and small business enterprises from government’s grasp. PRA applauds the work of Missouri Citizens for Property Rights and supports its continued efforts to protect the Missourian property owner.” -Scott A. LaGanga, Executive Director of Property Rights Alliance (PRA)

Reason Foundation
“I have looked at a lot of legislation and efforts around the country to limit eminent domain abuse. Most of them are laudable. But the effort of Missouri Citizens for Property Rights stands out from the crowd. Not only are they meticulous about changing the law to confine eminent domain to true public uses, they put real effort into discussing alternatives to eminent domain for cities dealing with blight and economic development challenges. I am impressed by how they combine a hard line on property rights with an effort to address the public policy consequences.“ Dr. Adrian Moore, Vice President, Reason Foundation (Blog)

American Policy Center
“The threat to private property is real. Since the Supreme Court's ruling in Kelo VS New London, no home is secure. As the battle rages across the country, two approaches have emerged: those who try to appease, consequently doing little for property owner's protection -- and those who are serious about protecting private property from the ravages of Eminent Domain. The effort by the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights takes the no-compromising stand and gets it right.” Tom DeWeese, President, American Policy Center

The Rutherford Institute
"I commend the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights in their work to protect the rights of private property owners. This is essential legislation and should be used in other states to ensure that what happened in Connecticut by way of the U.S. Supreme Court's Kelo decision does not happen again."--John W. Whitehead, President, The Rutherford Institute

The Claremont Institute
“Our government officials seem to have lost their way. The primary purpose of government is supposed to be the protection of the inalienable rights of its citizens, including the right to own property, yet all too frequently planning department bureaucrats, with the sanction of both elected officials and courts, view their role as implementing some communitarian ideal, trampling individual rights for what these bureaucrats believe to be the common good. I therefore applaud the efforts of Missouri Citizens for Property Rights to reinvigorate the protection of private property that the Missouri Constitution has historically afforded, amending the constitution to forestall erroneous interpretations of the long-standing provisions. The restoration of property rights as one of our fundamental rights, deserving protection against tyrannical majorities for all but the most compelling of public use reasons, is an important battle, and I wish you much success.” - John Eastman, Director, The Claremont Institute Center for Constitutional Jurisprudence and Professor of Law, Chapman University School of Law

Missouri Property Rights -

Defenders of Property Rights-
“Defenders of Property Rights applauds the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights for their effort to restore the traditional, constitutional principles of property rights in the state of Missouri. Considering the recent tragic results of eminent domain abuse, it is essential that organization’s collaborative efforts work towards returning eminent domain to its appropriate use and prevent private property owners from more unjust takings. Defenders of Property Rights commends the determination of Missouri Citizens for Property Rights in defending property rights and will continue to support their efforts to minimize the victimization of Missourian private property owners as a result of eminent domain abuse.” – Nancie Marzulla, President, Defenders of Property Rights

MEDAC (Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse – Coalition)

Concerned Citizens for Family Farms and Heritage, Doug McDaniel President-

The O’Fallon Old Town Preservation Committee
“The O’Fallon Old Town Preservation Committee is proud to endorse the Missouri Constitutional Amendments proposed by the Missouri Citizens for Property Rights.”

New Life Evangelistic Center

Concerned Women for America

 

PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MO-CPR Criticizes Municipal League's Intervention In Court Case

ST. LOUIS, MO – August 19, 2008: The Missouri Municipal League filed papers Monday seeking to deprive Missouri voters of the opportunity to vote on a pair of constitutional amendments sponsored by Missouri Citizens for Property Rights. The amendments would end the abuse of eminent domain for private profit while allowing it for traditional uses like roads and utilities. They would also leave elected officials with other powers to clean up problem properties.

The Missouri Secretary of State ruled on August 5 that MO-CPR had turned in insufficient signatures in Congressional District 2 to qualify for the ballot. MO-CPR filed a lawsuit last week challenging the decision. The Missouri Municipal League, which represents 658 Missouri Cities, filed papers on Monday seeking to keep the MO-CPR amendments off the ballot.

The Municipal League’s filing prompted a rebuke from MO-CPR Chairman Ron Calzone. “It’s bad enough that some city officials have repeatedly trampled on their own constituents’ property rights for the benefit of politically connected private developers,” Calzone said. “Now they’re spending tax payer's money to go to court to deprive voters of the chance to vote on the practice. It’s despicable.”

“Nothing the Municipal League can add will change the fact that more than 200,000 Missouri voters have signed petitions asking to vote on this issue," Calzone added. "The Municipal League claims that eminent domain for private profit is good for the state’s economy, but we think that respect for property rights, the bulwark of all of our freedoms, is what's really good for Missouri. We just ask that the voters have a chance to choose.”

Bevis Schock, a member of the board of MO-CPR and a St. Louis civil rights attorney said he found the proposed intervention comical. "I wonder if the politicians who approved this legal action have considered how many residents of their cities signed our Petition?" he asked. "It is a sad day when government officials are so out of touch with the right of the people to own their property in peace, and so enamored with their own wisdom to decide which developers should run rough shod over people's homes and businesses, that they would take an action like this."

"The Municipal League should have entered this case on our side and encouraged the judge to grant the people a right to vote on this issue," Schock suggested.

"Voters should remember this when they go into the ballot box in November," Calzone added. "In addition to approving our amendments, voters should throw out the city officials who lack respect not only for their property rights, but for their right to vote as well."

Go to http://www.mo-cpr.org for this release and other information about the project.

Contact:
Ron Calzone, chairman
Missouri Citizens for Property Rights
33867 Highway E
Dixon, MO 65459

ron@mo-cpr.org
www.mo-cpr.org
(573) 759-3585

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For Immediate Release

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights to File Suit to Gain Ballot Access

Dixon, MO – August 6, 2008: Missouri Citizens for Property Rights announced today that it intends to challenge the Missouri Secretary of State's Tuesday ruling that it has not submitted enough valid signatures for its two constitutional amendments to appear on the November ballot.

"We prepared for this possibility - we've already got a team in place to challenge the decision," said Ron Calzone, chairman of MO-CPR. "We're pleased that the Secretary of State confirmed that we had enough signatures in five of the six required congressional districts, and we intend to demonstrate that we cleared the hurdle in the sixth district as well."

The amendments would end the abuse of eminent domain for private profit while allowing it for traditional uses like roads and utilities. They would also leave elected officials with the powers they need to clean up problem properties.

Under Missouri law, the signatures MO-CPR submitted were sent to county election officials for verification. Calzone noted that this year, county officials were asked to verify thousands of signatures for each of five separate petitions in just 13 weeks. They may have inadvertently rejected a significant number of valid signatures due to clerical errors.

Calzone said he is confident of success because his organization hired a private company to verify the signatures before submitting them. "Over 200,000 Missouri voters signed both of our petitions, but 50,000 of them were rejected – we want to find out why. We intend to ensure that every valid signature is counted, and we believe that will be more than enough to put us on the ballot."

"Eminent domain for private profit is morally wrong, and it's bad for the state's economy," Calzone said. "This is the sort of thing a constitution is supposed to protect the people from. Three years after the Supreme Court said that the federal Constitution doesn't protect our property rights from private greed, the voters of Missouri deserve the chance to finally amend the state Constitution to restore property rights at the state level. We intend to show that we have earned a place on the ballot by collecting more than the required number of signatures."

Go to http://www.mo-cpr.org for this release and other information about the project.

Contact:

Ron Calzone, chairman

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights
33867 Highway E
Dixon, MO 65459

ron (at) mo-cpr.org
www.mo-cpr.org
(573) 759-3585
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March 18, 2008

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

MO-CPR Says High Court Decision Shows Need for Constitutional Changes

Missouri Citizens for Property Rights' chairman Ron Calzone made the following statement regarding the Missouri Supreme Court's decision in the case of Arnold vs. Tourkakis:

"My heart goes out to Homer and his wife, who are now a step closer to having a quarter-century of hard work destroyed by city bulldozers. The high court ignored the clear statement in Article I, Section 28 that 'private property shall not be taken for private use with or without compensation' as Missourians' fundamental protection against private use eminent domain."

"The court instead stretched the application of Article VI, Section 21, despite plain language limiting those powers to chartered cities. This illogical decision puts hundreds of thousands of Missourians' property rights in greater danger."

"That's not the worst of it, though. In the majority opinion, the court wrote, 'Unless limited by the constitution, the legislature has the right to authorize the exercise of the unlimited and practically absolute sovereign power of eminent domain.'"

"Like the US Supreme Court's 2005 Kelo decision, this decision proves that we cannot rely on the courts to protect our property rights. Only our ballot initiative, which unequivocally outlaws eminent domain for private profit, will reverse the Supreme Court's wrongheaded decision and give property owners the protections they deserve. We are grateful that in the midst of his legal battle with the city, Homer has found the time to support our effort to gather the signatures to put these amendments on the ballot. Homer's determination to fight for not only his own property rights but those of his fellow Missourian's is a real inspiration."

Link to the court decision

Link to Institute for Justice press release

MO-CPR page for this case

SELECT VIDEO

This report from Fox 4 in KC explains the issue VERY well. Be sure to watch the video. (Click Here)

(Click here for a list of News Reports)