Section 1. That all men are by nature equally free and independent and have certain inherent rights ; namely, the enjoyment of life and liberty, with the means of acquiring and possessing property, and pursuing and obtaining happiness and safety.

--Thomas Jefferson

The Virginia Declaration of Human Rights

PROPERTY RIGHTS were clearly at the forefront of Thomas Jefferson's mind as he envisioned the basic liberties for whose preservation and protection government was instituted. It would be nice if the Virginia General Assembly agreed.

Schoolchildren learn that Virginia was one of the original 13 Colonies. Adults should know that the Old Dominion is one of only 13 states that has not passed the eminent-domain reform legislation needed to counteract the U.S. Supreme Court's disastrous 2005 Kelo v. New London decision. Your property, in other words, is still very much at risk, and the blame lies at the feet of the General Assembly.

Kelo, of course, was the ruling that allowed well-kept middle-class homes to be seized by the city of New London, Conn., so that an upscale waterfront retail and housing development could be built. Last year the General Assembly reviewed several bills designed to correct this abuse of power but passed nothing. Now the issue returns to the agenda. The question is, will true reform pass, or will legislators try to placate their constituents with fake "reform"?

Nota bene: True reform will be in the form of a constitutional amendment, one that will bind future legislators to the will of the people. After all, it's the General Assembly that has yielded eminent-domain powers to local governments, public utilities, VDOT, and the like. The lobby for these condemning authorities--many are unelected and unaccountable--in Richmond is strong, especially in the Senate.

Corrective legislation pending in that chamber must pass through the Courts of Justice Eminent Domain subcommittee--alternate name: Where True Reform Goes to Die. Check out the campaign-finance contribution reports for members of the committee at the Virginia Public Accountability Project Web site (vpap.org): Dominion Power, the Virginia Association of Realtors, Allegheny Power, Appalachian Power, and home builders are among the givers.

But that's not all. On Thursday, ethics complaints were filed against committee members Kenneth Stolle, R-Virginia Beach, and Thomas Norment, R-Williamsburg, alleging "conflicts of interest over eminent domain reform legislation and their legal representation of client condemnors who have vested interests in seeing such legislation killed." Both senators work for the law firm of Kaufman & Canoles and represent condemnors such as public utilities and local governments--organizations that embrace Kelo with gusto. The General Assembly Ethics Advisory Panel will take up the matter next week.

A pox on these people. What Virginia needs are statesmen in the assembly willing to do the right thing, to take the Jeffersonian high ground and put "the means of acquiring and possessing property" at the top of the list of Rights to Protect.

Let's have genuine Kelo reform--this year.