In Douglas Adams’s Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy, hero Arthur Dent loses his house to his government’s hired bulldozers just as the officious Vogons destroy Earth itself to make way for a hyperspace express route. The Vogons are unsympathetic to any Earthling complaint. After all, papers for this eminent domain taking had been on public display in an office in Alpha Centauri.

Can’t happen here?

Well, a few years ago in Washington state, Ken and Barbara Miller received condemnation papers for a corner of their farmland. Yes, before the bulldozers came. But they had expected some advance notice, some way to discuss the issue publicly while the government considered the effort.

When they asked about this, the Vogons . . . I mean, Sound Transit — the agency that authorized the land grab — informed them that it had posted a meeting notice about the project on their website.

The fact that the couple didn’t have an Internet account at the time was irrelevant. As was the fact that nowhere did this allegedly “public” notice specify the couple’s names, address, or even parcel number.

Hundreds of thousands of dollars in legal fees later, and the land . . . went to the Vogons . . . er, Sound Transit.

Sad, but there’s a sliver of a silver lining. The Millers recently witnessed Washington’s governor sign a bill into law. Actual notice of a takings must now be delivered to a property owner in advance of any decision.

Notices filed on Alpha Centauri will no longer do.

This is Common Sense. I’m Paul Jacob.

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