One of the cornerstones of America (at least from what I hear from the people on talk radio) is property rights. If I own property then I have the right to do whatever I want with it. Within reason. If I am using my land as a pig farm, thus causing my neighbors to be unable to use their land for breathing air, then we have a problem. This is where property law comes into play. Maybe my right to develop my land is more important than your right to clean air. Or maybe you knew the pig farm was there. Or maybe I suddenly did this overnight. I mean, it's a whole thing you learn in law school. It is very interesting. OK, it is awful.
But I think we all can agree that if you own property you have the right to decide if you want to lease it to someone else.
Say you had title to some waterfront property that had oysters on it. And say that you leased it to someone for 40 years. Now that lease is coming up and you don't want to renew it. Isn't it your right to do that? Don't property rights mean that you can't be forced to lease your land to someone else?
Well then why the heck is the pro-property rights crowd complaining about the Drake's Bay Oyster Farm?
If you just read the story at Agenda21 news you might be confused. Because they talk about the government taking away the private property of the oyster farmers and destroying businesses for fun. But if you go over to an actual news source you'll see that all the government did was decide not to renew a lease. The government OWNS this land. They decided to lease it for 40 years. Then they decided they didn't want to do that anymore. Don't they have that right? Of course. Just because it's the government doesn't mean that they have to continue to lease it out anymore than you should have to lease your land to someone else.
Now, the point of contention here seems to be the why. And this is where we come to the real problem: Administrative Law. Now, I could write for a long time about this topic because it is close to my heart. But it would probably put you all to sleep. So let me give you the quick version.
Administrative agencies have power to make decisions like this. They have been delegated the power from the legislative branch when they were created. In the acts that create them the legislature will often set out the guidelines the agency should use in decision making. If not, the agency may make the guidelines in the process of rulemaking. General policy decisions are often based on the executive branch, since agencies are technically part of the executive.
What about due process? The Supreme Court has looked at that. Turns out that due process doesn't mean a full courtroom hearing. It just means you get to present your side and have the opportunity to correct any misstated facts. That's it. You don't get to have a jury of your peers. You don't get to have a popular vote. You may not even get a neutral party. As long as you have that chance (sometimes even just on a piece of paper that you send to the agency) then you've had your process.
And the Oyster company had their process. They aren't happy. But other people are. I mean, that's the thing about a society with competing interests. Sometimes you don't win. Sometimes the people who want to have tourists and protect the wildlife win. Sorry.
But this isn't taking away any private property rights. It's about not signing a lease. It's about the government deciding to assert their rights. Their rights. Their property. I just don't understand how this is even an issue. You might think their decision is bad, but don't mislabel this an issue of the government usurping property rights. It isn't that at all.
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