Dr. Beito’s op-ed published
As predicted, Dr. David Beito’s op-ed was published at the Tuscaloosa News. Here’s a sample:
Peera, who had to flee from his native East Africa after Idi Amin expelled its Asian population, does not easily intimidate and is extremely determined to fight property abuse in Alabama. He is trying to mobilize other Montgomery property owners who face the same plight. Through the state’s freedom of information act, he has obtained the names of over several hundred individuals, mostly from minority neighborhoods, who have had their homes summarily demolished under the blight law.
The former owners have related to him a litany of arbitrary mistreatment, but most were too poor or lacked the necessary information to fight back against the city. ‘What this City Hall is doing is criminal towards blacks and property owners, and it must be stopped’ Peera said.
Peera has appealed to the State Advisory Committee of the U.S. Commission of Civil Rights and hopes that others will join him. On Monday, Alabamians who believe that their property rights have been violated under eminent domain, either through the back door or the front door, can tell their stories to the Committee at a public forum from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Whitely Conference Hall on the Montgomery campus of Troy University.
Read the entire article here.