New film portrays landmark property rights case
Western Pa. native took legal fight to U.S. Supreme Court
ARLINGTON, Va. — “Every home, church or corner store would produce more tax revenue and jobs if it were a Costco, a shopping mall or a private office building. But if that’s the justification for the use of eminent domain, then any city can take property anywhere within its borders for any private use that might make more money than what is there now.”
If it sounds like Western Pennsylvania native Scott Bullock is rattling off lines from a movie, he isn’t. The movie quotes him.
If that seems surreal, it felt that way to Mr. Bullock, too, the first time he saw himself portrayed in “Little Pink House,” a newly released independent film based on his work on the landmark U.S. Supreme Court property rights case Kelo v. New London.
The film opens in Pittsburgh this weekend after a slow rollout in other cities across the country.
Canadian actor Giacomo Baessato plays Mr. Bullock, an attorney for the Virginia-based Institute for Justice, which represented Susette Kelo and the other plaintiffs in their legal battle to keep the New London (Conn.) Development Corp. from seizing their homes in
the city’s Fort Trumbull neighborhood. NLDC planned to use the land for condos, office buildings and a hotel to benefit the new headquarters of Pfizer, which was about to market its new drug, Viagra.
The case made its way to the U.S. Supreme Court where Ms. Kelo (played by Catherine Keener) and her neighbors lost the 2005 case but, according to Mr. Bullock, won in the long run because the controversial ruling prompted legislation in almost every state that made it more difficult for governments to take land by eminent domain, which is a power governments can use to force people to sell private property for public use.
“What’s great about the movie is it really does capture what the average, ordinary person can do to stand up for their rights, and it’s what the Constitution needs every generation. It needs people like Susette Kelo to stand up for their rights and, in doing so, protect the rights of all Americans,” Mr. Bullock said in an interview in his office at the Justice Institute, where he now is president. “If you don’t have people willing to fight, then the Constitution is just words on an old piece of paper.”
Ms. Kelo is the clear hero of the film, which is based on Jeff Benedict’s book of the same name, but Mr. Bullock is a central character.
It was important to have the right actor play him. Director Courtney Balaker needed someone who could authentically play someone as charming, confident and compassionate as she believed Mr. Bullock to be.
“He’s an incredibly brilliant guy, but he’s not arrogant or pompous as some people at his level are, so it was really important who could portray that unique combination of empathy, confidence and intelligence,” Ms. Balaker said.
Mr. Baessato was perfect for it, she said. Mr. Bullock thought so, too, although his first encounter with the actor would be on a television screen in his office conference room a year ago when he viewed and factchecked an early version of the film.
“It’s strange to see somebody playing you and your life is kind of flashing before your eyes,” he said. “It’s bizarre.”
He said Mr. Baessato captured his mannerisms and his earnestness, if not his humor or his love of jazz, which he listens to on vinyl albums played on a turntable in his office.
“I’m a little bit quicker to joke about things, but I thought he did a very nice job. I think he captured my devotion to the property owners,” Mr. Bullock said. “I was very determined and earnest and serious about the work that I do, but I also like to get to know the folks I’m representing and share some laughs with them.”
He said he spent a lot of time in the plaintiffs’ homes and established a rapport quickly because he found the people of Fort Trumbull to be similar to the families he grew up with.
“There’s a real down-toearth quality about them that I’ve always loved and appreciated. Coming from a working-class background really helped in the work that I’m in,” he said. “I love talking about constitutional law and constitutional theory, but then we’re representing real people whose rights are being violated. The people I represent are like the people I grew up with in Greensburg and Jeannette, true working-class people.”
Mr. Bullock, 51, is the son of an executive secretary and a Navy corpsman. He attended Grove City College and graduated in May 1991 from the University of Pittsburgh School of Law. Four months later, he began work at the Institute of Justice, where he has focused on private property rights, economic liberty, free speech and education choice.
Over the 27 years, he has represented numerous clients, including Pittsburgh business owners who in 2000 were fighting the city’s plan to use eminent domain so that their properties could be used for a Chicago developer’s planned retail mall in the Fifth and Forbes corridor in Downtown. The city dropped the plan after the Institute of Justice posted billboards in opposition and threatened legal action.
Ms. Balaker said she hopes that people are inspired and encouraged by her film’s depiction of Ms. Kelo.
“I want people to see this as a story about a woman — just a blue-collar woman — who got pushed around and pushed right back,” she said. “It’s not just about eminent domain abuse but about doing the right thing. I wanted to honor that.”
“Little Pink House” is showing Friday through next Thursday at AMC Waterfront 22 in West Homestead. A special screening at 2 p.m. Saturday will be followed by a question-and-answer session with Mr. Bullock and Bernie Lynch, one of the community activists who was a central figure in the Fifth and Forbes fight.
Washington Bureau Chief Tracie Mauriello: tmauriello@post-gazette.com; 703996-9292 or on Twitter @pgPoliTweets.