By Nicholas Brown
Staff Writer

Bedford State Rep. Moe Villeneuve signs his name in support of a petition to use eminent domain to take U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter's Weare home. Villeneuve is currently pushing for legislation in the state house that would restrict the application of eminent domain in New Hampshire. (Bruce Preston Photo)

This is what U.S. Supreme Court Justice David Souter's Weare farm home will look like if the Natural Rights Committee manages to take over his property by eminent domain and turn it into the Lost Liberty Hotel. (Courtesy Graphic)

The California activist who helped spark the push to seize U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter's Weare home, Logan Darrow Clements, joined the recent rally on his second New Hampshire visit. (Bruce Preston Photo)

Invoking the names of some of the nation's historic revolutionary leaders, and likening their cause to the Boston Tea Party or Weare's own Pine Tree Riot, opponents of a June U.S. Supreme Court decision involving eminent domain recently rallied throughout Weare.

“Our hope and prayer is that our national and state legislatures do their job and protect our property rights,” said Gary Hopper, chairman of the Committee for the Protection of Natural Rights, a local group formed after the Court's Kelo vs. New London decision.

The rally, which took place Saturday, Jan. 21, and Sunday, Jan. 22, was in support of a petition filed by the committee earlier this month that asks Weare voters approval in seizing the Cilley Hill Road property of U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice David Souter.

Souter, whose eight-acre farmhouse property was monitored by police throughout the weekend, was on the majority in the court's 5-4 decision that backed the rights of the city of New London, Conn., to seize several properties through eminent domain and allow for private developments in their stead.

The decision caused nationwide protests, and since several states – New Hampshire included – have proposed legislation that more clearly defines “public use,” a qualification of eminent domain, which has traditionally been used by governments only for infrastructure improvements.

Committee members noted that the New Hampshire legislature is currently reviewing a handful of bills aimed at restricting eminent domain use in the state, but said they're still pushing to seize Souter's property and there build a hotel.

“If you really believe or trust the legislature to look out for your best interest, that's like waiting for the courts to do it,” said Hopper, a former two-term state representative.

The committee's intention, said Hopper, “is that the (legislature) is so effective that it nullifies our ability to take Souter's land.”

Hopper was speaking to about 45 people gathered at the old town hall on Sunday. The day featured speeches from other Natural Rights Committee members, as well as representatives from a New London group and a California activist, Logan Darrow Clements.

Rights Committee member Keith Lacasse noted that people came to the weekend rally from as far away as Virginia and Texas, but drew upon Weare's own revolutionary history. He cited the 1772 Pine Tree Riot, in which a group of Weare mill workers revolted against a British parliamentary command to surrender the area's white pine trees. The group physically assaulted several employees of the British king in the middle of the night.

“That's what they did over pine trees – can you imagine if those guys were around today?” asked Lacasse. “In this town we have the ability to have an effect over the whole country.”

The petition submitted by the committee asks voters to support two trust funds – one to pay Souter fair market value for his property, and the other for anticipated legal expenses.

Weare's deliberative session of Town Meeting is Saturday, Feb. 4, at 10 a.m. at Center Woods Elementary School.

Election day is March 14.

Joshua Solomon, a Rights Committee member who plans to run for a Weare selectman's seat in March, said eminent domain opponents knocked on doors throughout Weare over the weekend.

“We're in the limelight,” he said. The nation is focused on us and we have to take some action.”

Ray Bianco, a musician from Providence, R.I., said he was never very involved in politics until recently. Bianco drove almost three hours to attend the Weare rally.

“When that Supreme Court decision came down, I was literally yelling in my home,” he said.