Jim Roos has lost — for now. A federal judge says St. Louis may force him to whitewash a sign he painted on a south-side apartment building. The sign says END EMINENT DOMAIN ABUSE.
Roos is president of the housing organization that manages the apartment building. He is also president of the Missouri Eminent Domain Abuse Coalition. He painted the mural after he and other property owners began receiving letters advising them that the city was thinking of using eminent domain to grab their property and turn it over to commercial developers.
The city refused to grant a permit for the sign, claiming it clashes with zoning requirements. Perhaps the City of St. Louis just doesn’t appreciate fine art. John Randall, an attorney representing Roos, observed that if the sign had “said something like ‘Go Cardinals’ or ‘We support our troops,’ I doubt that we would be in federal court with this.”
The case is about free speech, but it’s also about property rights. The mural is not vandalism, after all. Why shouldn’t Roos be able not only to keep but also to paint his very own property? Governments would often have you believe that your property belongs to you only contingently and provisionally, not as a matter of right.
Roos says he will appeal, and keep fighting. “If we eventually lose and there are no more appeals we’ll remove the sign. Until that time, however, I think the sign is going to remain.”
This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.
7 replies on “Sign of Dissent”
Way to go Jim!
There is an energy in the USA that will soon rear the head of Liberty. This abuse of office is reaching historic proportions. It must end, and I for one will do everything possible to promote a Conservative agenda and vote these jerks out of office.
Unfortunately, until we do away with property taxes, we don’t own anything. We’re only renting our homes, cars, and everything else they tax from the govt.
You don’t agree? Just stop paying and watch them take “your” property away from you.
Do you really think you own your home? Think again (property tax). We create government for a single valid purpose — to prevent and punish thuggery. What do we do now that the biggest thug of all is our very own government. Income tax (extortion), property tax (theft), inflation (counterfeiting), minimum wage (if you are not worth this amount you are worthless), …
‑mark-
Bill is exactly right. Keep up the fight Jim.
Yes, we apparently no longer own property. My car was towed out of the carport I OWN due to the board says I must now put a sticker inside my car to be able to park on my property. The police dept. won’t make a theft report for they say thay have no power over private property. I have yet to find a lawyer to represent me. I had 15 say they would represent me before this happened now NONE will…FREEDOM and LIBERTY is disappearing rapidly and we keep being told to wait till November to vote them out…I believe November will be much too late!!!
Stifling Free Speech…
If Jim Roos, a sign painter and property owner, had painted a sign pushing a local football or baseball team, he wouldn’t be in federal court defending his right to object to the city stealing his property with “eminent domain.”.…..
Why doesn’t he paint the issue as “Free Speech?” It certainly seems to be protected speech, in that he is protesting actions by the local government.