![Proposal to evict Souter in retaliation for eminent domain ruling rejected](https://www.jurist.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/12/jurist-white-text.png)
[JURIST] Residents of Weare, New Hampshire [official website], the town where Justice David Souter [Oyez profile] of the US Supreme Court owns a farmhouse, rejected a proposal [2006 Town Warrant, Article 48, PDF] to evict Souter in a town meeting Saturday, and instead substituted a call for the state legislature to strengthen state law on eminent domain [JURIST news archive]. The proposal asked whether the town should take Souter’s farmhouse for development as an inn; whether to set up a trust fund to accept donations for legal expenses; and whether to set up a second trust fund to accept donations to compensate Souter for taking his land. Residents voted 94-59 by secret ballot to add the word “not” to the proposal put forth by a group of residents who petitioned to take away Souter’s home by eminent domain for the so called Lost Liberty Hotel [backgrounder]. Some residents protested [JURIST report] outside of Souter's home in January, but most residents of Weare primarily viewed the proposal as a vengeance campaign, led by Californian Logan Darrow Clements [campaign website], in response to the Court's 2005 decision in Kelo v. City of New London [opinion], which allowed a local government to take private property to develop a hotel, convention center, office space and condominiums. AP has more.