Justice Stevens Goes Federalist

The Parapundit, Randall Parker, has a nice rant on the latest disappointing Supreme Court decision. With an apparent straight face, the hapless Justice John Paul Stevens says that state and local governments know what's best for their citizens and so taking people's property under almost any circumstances is good enough by him. Of course earlier in the year he was positive that people who run prisons don't know anything about how inmates behave and that he was pretty sure that racial problems in prisons happen only because negative thoughts are planted in inmates' heads by racially conscious prison officials. Oh well - the wisdom of our Philosopher Kings.
Traditionally, when a developer wants land to build on he has to go out and buy the land from the current owners. If he's smart, he can probably pull it off without too much trouble, but if the property owners get wind of the deal they can turn it into a little windfall for themselves. But if all the developer has to do is go to the state to get the properties condemned, then all the hard work is done. The state is then distorting the market, and the homeowners get ripped off.