You’re quite right, Daren. This problem of judicial indifference to property rights, freedom of contract, and anything else that falls under the description of “economic” liberty goes back to the New Deal when the Supreme Court decided that some rights just weren’t important enough for the justices to bother with. It’s exactly that attitude of “we know which rights are truly important and which ones we can leave to the mercy of the legislative process” that Barnett assails in his book. Kelo is the latest manifestation of that nasty line of thought.