Conservatives for civil rights

Stuart Buck makes a great point about Kelo v. London:

Watch carefully to see whether groups such as People for the American Way correctly portray this decision as one in which conservatives favored civil rights while liberals were effectively opposed. The Takings Clause protects a "civil right" as much as anything else in the Constitution. And it should particularly protect the "civil right" to keep your family home when someone else wants to give it to the Pfizer Corporation.

I agree with that -- the takings clause protects a civil right as much as anything else in the Constitution.

He also has a great quote from Justice Thomas' dissent. About the Court's effectively rejecting the precedents on the takings clause, Thomas wrote:

Defying this understanding, the Court replaces the Public Use Clause with a “'[P]ublic [P]urpose’” Clause, ante, at 9—10 (or perhaps the “Diverse and Always Evolving Needs of Society” Clause