Supreme Court Comes Knockin'

Today, bloggers are clearly talking about the law and just how far it can go. Apparently into your private real estate, according to Thursday's Supreme Court ruling that allows local governments to use eminent domain to seize private property for private developments -- as long as there's a community benefit involved.

The Dartmouth Review calls it a "pretty lousy ruling." Professor Bainbridge (today's No. 28 link) calls it a "moral outrage" and says the ruling is clear evidence that the Bush White House must pick a true conservative -- one who respects the 5th amendment's property protection wording -- for the next opening on the Supreme Court. Outside the Beltway called it a "black day for capitalism." Zonkerama blogger ("so much for property rights...the Supreme Court really blew it") is fairly representative of the reaction, most of which is negative.

How prevalent was the Supreme Court discussion? Five of today's key phrases mention the ruling, as do nine of today's top 40 links. Today's burstiest person is Susette Kelo, the New London CT homeowner whose name is on the historic lawsuit, and eight of the nine Supreme Court Justices (all but lead dissenter Sandra Day O'Connor, curiously) appear among the top 25 burstiest people.

A BlogPulse trend graph that plots pre-Kelo Supreme Court buzz has ruling-related spikes: its early March decision to consider a Ten Commandments case, the no-go Terri Schiavo decision in late March, the lifting of the ban on wine sales in late May and early June's ruling against medical marijuana:



Meanwhile, William Kristol in the Weekly Standard speculates that O'Connor, not Chief Justice William Rehnquist, is the judge most likely to retire -- and soon.