I live in coastal California, where defenses of property rights are few and far between. That’s why I was heartened by this cover story in our local left-wing newspaper, the Monterey County Weekly. It’s titled “A longtime Carmel Valley activist gears up for one more fight: the right to be buried in her front yard,” and appeared in the January 29-February 4 issue.

For those of you who don’t want to take the time to read, the author, Mary Duan, nicely chronicles the trials and tribulations of a 90-year old woman, Darby Worth, who wants simply, when she dies, to be buried in her yard. Bottom line: this seems highly unlikely because of reams of regulations that restrict her ability to use her property as she wishes.

I was disappointed, therefore, when the Weekly did not publish my letter backing Darby. Here it is:

Dear Sir or Madam:

Kudos to Darby Worth for her fight to get her body buried on her own property. Darby has always been a great ally on antiwar, pro-peace issues. It’s wonderful to see her be an ally on property rights as well.

Callfornia is one of the most regulated states in the union. The regulations she’s fighting are stifling or, as she says, “strangling.” It’s too bad, but totally predictable, that she has been unable to get any local politicians energized to fight against regulation and for her property rights. As Darby says in the article, “Government bureaucracy is enough to dehumanize anyone.”

Yours truly,

David R. Henderson
Research Fellow, Hoover Institution