Justice & Law Quote by Cliff Stearns

Stearns is doing two things at once: translating a dense legal holding into kitchen-table outrage, and positioning himself as the defender of the homeowner against an elite machine that speaks in “public use” euphemisms. The verb choice matters. “Co-opt” isn’t neutral; it suggests a sneaky takeover, a rigging of the system. “Backed” implies the Court didn’t merely interpret law but endorsed a bad idea, turning judges into political accomplices.

The line’s real engine is the repetition: “private property” to “another private entity.” That echo is a framing device designed to make the decision feel like a category error, almost a betrayal of the American bargain. Eminent domain, in the civics textbook, is supposed to be a grim necessity for roads, bridges, defense. Stearns strips away the abstraction and makes the transfer look like legalized favoritism: your home handed to someone with better connections and a shinier development proposal.

Context sharpens the intent. He’s reacting to the 2005 Kelo v. City of New London decision, which upheld taking property for economic development under a broad reading of “public use.” Critics feared the ruling would turbocharge redevelopment politics: cities chasing higher tax bases, developers promising jobs, ordinary owners stuck with the bill. Stearns’ syntax turns “economic development” into the punchline, a polite label masking the underlying reality he wants voters to see: not public necessity, but private dealmaking with state power as the muscle.