Property Rights Archives

THOU SHALT NOT STEAL

July 9, 2025May 3, 2025 Russ Payne

Property rights throughout our nation and around the world suffer because a supposed environmental doomsday is coming. Socialists are marketing this emotion-triggering threat to limit and control property rights. The evil nature legalizing this silent plunder turns the purpose of government to protect life and property upside down. Once again, the age-old strategy of using … Read more

guy with beer pitcher and beer on his face

A Commoner’s View On Housing Bill Madness

April 29, 2025April 29, 2025 Julie Smith

Let’s be clear. This isn’t about preventing a family from converting their garage into a studio apartment for Granny so she doesn’t have to spend the rest of her life in assisted living or any other commonly used argument to gaslight people sounding the alarm on potential loss of local control. A few other scenarios … Read more

By What Authority Are We Doing This?

March 26, 2025March 26, 2025 Deborah Aylward

This is the fundamental question public officials must ask and answer before taking any official action. If the answer is ‘We don’t know. . .’ then they have a duty to find out! Apparently, such was not the case in the matter of the Town of Danbury Planning Board when they devised and engaged in … Read more

Civilization Is The Price We Pay For Taxes

February 12, 2025 Ian Underwood

Wait, isn’t that backwards? Didn’t Justice Oliver Wendell Holmes, Jr. famously say that ‘Taxes are the price we pay for civilization’? He did, but he had it backwards. Taxes are, as Tommy Shelby said of politics in general, a way of deliberately making things better for some people by deliberately making them worse for others. … Read more

The Federal Loophole That Fuels Asset Forfeiture Nationwide

January 2, 2025 Mike Maharrey

A federal asset forfeiture program known as equitable sharing provides law enforcement agencies with a major loophole, allowing them to continue seizing property almost unabated – even when state laws seek to limit such practices. WHAT IS ASSET FORFEITURE? Civil asset forfeiture is the process by which governments seize cash or property that was allegedly … Read more

An Infringement on Private Property Rights

November 2, 2024 John Yannacci

In my previous op-ed, I explained where natural resource inventories come from; in this one, I will explain why they are an infringement on private property rights. Chances are that your town has done a natural resource inventory (NRI); most have. At its core, an NRI is a map that is laid over your town … Read more

Opposing ‘Evict First, Ask Questions Later’

December 30, 2024October 16, 2024 John W. and Nisha Whitehead

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have asked the Third Circuit Court of Appeals to reverse the U.S. District Court’s ruling in Murphy v. Delaware, Justices of the Peace, which dismissed the lawsuit and granted quasi-judicial immunity to constables who knowingly evicted the wrong person—a blind man—and left him homeless with his daughters during a snowstorm. On appeal, Institute attorneys argue … Read more

The Presumption of Liberty

October 6, 2024 Wanjiru Njoya

The presumption of liberty is an established liberal tradition according to which any restrictions on individual liberty require justification. Gerald Gaus and Shaun Nichols depict this as a principle of “natural liberty,” a “general presumption in favor of freedom of action.” As they explain, if natural liberty is a general presumption we expect, it to … Read more

An Orwellian Reinterpretation of Human Rights

September 18, 2024 Wanjiru Njoya

Ludwig von Mises depicts the aim of revolutionary socialism as: “to clear the ground for building up a new civilization by liquidating the old one.” One of the main strategies in liquidating a civilization involves dismantling its legal and philosophical foundations. This role is fulfilled by activists who embark upon “sabotage and revolution” by subverting the meaning of words: “The … Read more

Squatter Dilemma Defies Common Sense

March 24, 2024 Ray Cardello

You have a beautiful home filled with memories of your family growing up. You pay the mortgage, taxes, utilities, and whatever is needed for upkeep. Along with the memories, your home is filled with pride. You have planned a two-week family vacation, and your home will be vacant during your absence. Years ago, this would not be a concern.

Ted Cruz US Senate Screen Grab The Hill.com video

A Guy Writing Love Letters to Marxism Might not be the Best Candidate to be a Federal Judge

November 7, 2023 Steve MacDonald

One of the things that often goes under the radar is the appointment and confirmation of federal judges. The process is near constant, but unless the appointee came from a Republican, the media shows little interest, but the bench continues to be a front in the war on liberty whether we are watching or not.

Betrayal of Property Rights by Government Is Stealing

October 17, 2023October 17, 2023 Op-Ed

Mao’s Agrarian reform growing into Klaus Swab’s WEF, Great Reset and the UN Agenda 30 plans will control every aspect of our lives. The Harold Ware Communist Party Cell planted in the Agriculture Department in 1933 sprouted the American “War on The Farmers.”

The Supreme Court’s New Decision on “Taking Property”

June 22, 2023 Op-Ed

In the next few weeks, the Supreme Court will be finishing up its October Term. The term gets its name from the fact that it begins Oct. 1. The next few columns will unpack some of the court’s most important decisions.

So Kids, What Did We Learn From This Week’s House Session (03/09/23)?

March 10, 2023 Judy Aron

We learned that it was a really good day for gun rights, school choice, property rights preservation, and saying NO to things like carbon taxes and green energy schemes. Republicans were truly in the majority today, and we accomplished some very good things!

Don’t Trust the Government with Your Privacy, Property, or Your Freedoms

January 18, 2023 Op-Ed

How do you trust a government that continuously sidesteps the Constitution and undermines our rights? You can’t.

The Neiman Marxists Make a Move On US Property Owners

November 10, 2021 Steve MacDonald

Sandy from the Block (AOC) is back to promote a federalization of property. She is proposing that the Government needs to, well, here, you can listen to the nutty on your own.

On Evictions, the Answer Is More Property Rights, Not Fewer

August 10, 2021 Op-Ed

The Center for Disease Control’s plainly unconstitutional eviction moratorium, begun in the Trump administration and continued by President Biden, is much more than a presidential abandonment of the rule of law.

And Here We Are at Atlas Shrugged

May 7, 2021 Skip

The first time I read Atlas Shrugged (disclaimer: yes, you could cut a couple of hundred pages out of it and liven up a goodly part of it and it still would be impactful), DCE at Weekend Pundit said I’d need anti-depressants for the first 100 pages as it was at the beginning of Obama’s first term – and now at his third term, I don’t dare pick it up again.

College Students: Stealing Other People’s Stuff is an Acceptable Form of ‘Protest’

September 11, 2020 Skip

The Declaration of Independence, in part, starts off with “Life, Liberty, and the pursuit of Happiness.” The word happiness was swapped in for “property” at the last minute because it “flowed better.” The NH State Constitution is much clearer on the point.

Bernie’s “Make Billionaires Pay Act” Proving “Taxation is Theft” Really is a Thing

August 12, 2020 Skip

The operative question should always be: “Who Chooses?” You or someone whose decision you will have to follow? “Taxation is Theft” is but one answer to that question.