LIBERTARIANS "PROTECT HOUSES OF WORSHIP FROM SEIZURE"

As the holidays approach, Nassau County Libertarian Party Chair Richard Cooper says the group calls for protecting the property rights of houses of worship from abuse by changing both Federal and New York laws.

Westbury, NY (PRWEB) December 16, 2003 --As the holidays approach, Nassau County Libertarian Party Chair Richard Cooper says the group calls for protecting the property rights of houses of worship from abuse by changing both Federal and New York laws. He calls for amending New York's eminent domain law to protect churches, synagogues, mosques, and temples from seizure by the state and municipal governments as part of urban renewal schemes. Federal law should be changed to prohibit use of Federal funds to finance such seizures.    Nassau Libertarians fought without success to save a church in New Cassel.

The Town of North Hempstead condemned St. Luke's Pentecostal Church using the eminent domain law in the name of "community revitalization." Cooper was outraged to read a newspaper report that a Town Zoning Board official said that "We have enough churches here in New Cassel." Rallying the Libertarians to aid St. Luke's, Cooper says the Libertarians reject eminent domain abuse and "urban renewal" programs as violations of rights and destructive of communities. He charges, "Instead of protecting the people's right to property, the government is conducting legalized theft."

Responding to threats to houses of worship by eminent domain backed with Federal funds, Congressman Ron Paul (R-TX) sponsored a bill to bar the use of Federal funds in such cases. Congressman Paul learned of the efforts of the Libertarian Party of New York's Nassau County chapter on behalf of the bullied poor church. Although Pauls measure passed in 2000, the bill it was attached to did not. It has not been reintroduced. In New York, acting on advice of Attorney-General Spitzer, Governor Pataki vetoed an eminent domain reform law which would have required municipalities to notify property owners of the hearings considering eminent domain. The Libertarians have condemned Spitzer and Pataki for this.    
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