"One answer is that the town's elected officials thought that the project served a public purpose and..." — Michael Kinsley

The 'takings' clause of the Fifth Amendment is for conservatives what the equal protection clause of the 14th is for liberals.

So the danger of conservative judicial activism has been averted for another year. Stay tuned.

Of course, conservatives always claim to be against judicial activism.

In those days, the late 1970s, one of the leading politicians was a soon-to-be uncle by marriage of Arnold Schwarzenegger, named Ted Kennedy.