The Volokh Conspiracy - The Church of Tax Revenues:

As I observed a few months ago, one predictable loser in the post-Kelo aftermath would be tax-exempt organizations such as churches. Tom Blumer reports on the case of the Centennial Baptist Church which stands in the path of a new Home Depot in Sand Springs, Oklahoma.

By pure coincidence, the new strip mall just has to go exactly where the church is located, rather than, say, on the site a nearby McDonald's and muffler shop. Tom has the maps--it looks like the church is right in between the McDonald's and the muffler shop.

I suspect this won't be the last we hear of churches in the crosshairs of governments taking land and giving it to commercial developers. Small, minority, poor, and unpopular religions and charities would seem to be especially vulnerable to the wrecking ball.

Update:

More from Professor Bainbridge (who previously described a similar situation in LA involving a nonprofit animal shelter), Christine Hurt, who asks, "What's Liberal About Eminent Domain?" and Peter Lattman at the WSJ Law Blog, who describes Eminent Domain as "Business Law's Angelina Jolie" (taking off on this article in today's NY Times).

	[Todd Zywicki, January 18, 2006 at 9:00am] Trackbacks The Church of Tax Revenues: As I observed a few months ago, one predictable loser in the post-Kelo aftermath would be tax-exempt organizations such as churches. Tom Blumer reports on the case of the Centennial Baptist Church which stands in the path of a new Home Depot in Sand Springs, Oklahoma. By pure coincidence, the new strip mall just has to go exactly where the church is located, rather than, say, on the site a nearby McDonald's and muffler shop. Tom has the maps--it looks like the church is right in between the McDonald's and the muffler shop. I suspect this won't be the last we hear of churches in the crosshairs of governments taking land and giving it to commercial developers. Small, minority, poor, and unpopular religions and charities would seem to be especially vulnerable to the wrecking ball. Update: More from Professor Bainbridge (who previously described a similar situation in LA involving a nonprofit animal shelter), Christine Hurt, who asks, "What's Liberal About Eminent Domain?" and Peter Lattman at the WSJ Law Blog, who describes Eminent Domain as "Business Law's Angelina Jolie" (taking off on this article in today's NY Times).