Missourians Rally for the Rights

There's lots of good press coverage of yesterday's property rights rally.
And here's a story in the Southeast Missourian:

St. Louis resident Maxine Johnson said she came because eminent domain threatened her basic constitutional rights.

"Whether they offer you $1 or $1 million, it doesn't matter," she said. "It's your house, and you should have the choice of if you want to sell."

Johnson, 49, lives with her husband and six children in a house built in 1883 and has been resisting a townhouse development along with some of her neighbors since 2003. She said the state needed to get involved because municipal officials have used eminent domain to take private property and do what they wish.

"Why should people buy a house when other people can come in and take it 10, 15 years from now?" Johnson said.

And the Post-Dispatch reports:

Wrath over the government's practice of taking private property brought together a unique coalition of farmers, business owners and urban residents on Wednesday.

Their message - stop the use of eminent domain for economic development - was echoed by Gov. Matt Blunt at a packed rally in the Capitol Rotunda.

Incidentally, their estimate that 200 people attended is ridiculous. There were about 200 chairs in the rotunda, all of them full, and at least as many people standing behind them. There were also several dozen more observing from the second-floor balcony. A more reasonable estimate is 500 people.