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Events • February 9, 2016 

# *Cornerstone of Liberty: Property Rights in 21st-Century America*

[![Cornerstone of Liberty](https://object.cato.org/sites/cato.org/files/images/new-cornerstone-of-liberty-150.jpg)](http://www.amazon.com/Cornerstone-Liberty-Property-Century-America/dp/1939709814/?tag=catoinstitute-20)

In 1792 James Madison, the principal author of the Constitution, wrote that “Government is instituted to protect property of every sort.” But from the 20th century on the Supreme Court has upheld one inroad after another on the property rights of Americans, culminating in the notorious *Kelo* decision of 2005, which upheld the city of New London, Connecticut’s transfer of Suzette Kelo’s home to a private developer. That prompted Cato to publish, six months later, Timothy Sandefur’s *Cornerstone of Liberty*, a detailed account of the demise of property rights in America. Perhaps the Court was listening, because since then it has issued a number of rulings that give hope that the tide may be turning. At least, we have now a full update of Tim’s first book, coauthored this time with his wife Christina, which throws the gauntlet down again before the Court. Please join us for what should be a spirited discussion of the state of property rights in America today. 

[![Creative Commons License](/build/cato_2020/images/creative-commons.svg)](http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/) 
This work is licensed under a [Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/). 

##### Featuring 

[![Media Name: tim-sandefur-cropped.jpg](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/authors/crops/tim-sandefur-cropped.jpg?itok=CejcNcC1)](/people/timothy-sandefur) 

##### [Timothy Sandefur](/people/timothy-sandefur)

Vice President for Legal Affairs, Scharf-Norton Center for Constitutional Litigation, Goldwater Institute

[ 

](https://twitter.com/timothysandefur) 

##### Christina Sandefur 

[![Roger Pilon](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Roger%20Pilon.jpg?itok=cmI-eTjr)](/people/roger-pilon) 

##### [Roger Pilon](/people/roger-pilon)

Senior Fellow in Constitutional Studies

[ 

](https://x.com/Roger_Pilon) [ 

](mailto:rpilon@cato.org) 

[![Trevor Burrus](/sites/cato.org/files/styles/author_picture/public/2021-01/Trevor%20Burrus.jpg?itok=onKmjXsL)](/people/trevor-burrus) 

##### [Trevor Burrus](/people/trevor-burrus)

Former Research Fellow, Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies, Cato Institute

[ 

](https://twitter.com/TCBurrus)