Will Election Voters Respond to the Supreme Court's Challenge?

In honor of the upcoming elections, I'd like to address how the Supreme Court can affect the ballot.

Last year, in Kelo v. City of New London the Supreme Court ruled that the Constitution's "takings" clause allowed the government to seize private property on behalf of private interest. In their decision, they went in a direction different from prior cases and interpreted the phrase "public use" to mean "public purpose".

The decision caused tremendous political backlash. Many property owners worried that they'd lose their property. Others argued that the decision seriously misconstrued the intentions of the Framers. Lousiana amended their Constitution to oppose the ruling and several other states have proposed anti-Kelo bills within their state legislatures. Even so, the Supreme Court refused to retry the decision, with Justice Stevens saying "the public outcry that greeted [the Kelo ruling] is some evidence that the political process is up to the task of addressing such policy concerns ."

Today, the Wall Street Journal article reported that 11 states will be voting on anti-Kelo initiatives this election. Earlier this month, civil justice blog TortDeform, suggested that regulatory takings may just be the sleeper issue of the elections this Tuesday.

Because most Americans don't like the idea of big government and really don't like the idea of losing their property, I think the Anti-Kelo initiatives will fare well.