Dear John,

Today, IJ scored a unanimous win ([link removed] ) at the U.S. Supreme Court on behalf of Texas rancher Richie DeVillier, who is fighting for compensation after the state government built a barrier along a nearby highway and flooded his ranch. Today’s decision overrules and vacates a disastrous lower court opinion that would have gutted the Constitution’s guarantee of just compensation when the government takes your property.

Richie’s family has farmed their land for three generations. A few years ago, Texas built a concrete barrier along a nearby highway to keep the road from flooding. The barrier works as intended, meaning that during heavy storms, the land north of the highway turns into a lake. In one storm, Richie lost acres of crops and about 100 cows and horses.

Richie and his neighbors sued under the Takings Clause of the Fifth Amendment, which says private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation. They lost at the appeals court when it ruled, despite decades of precedent to the contrary, that the Constitution itself doesn’t allow people to sue states when they take your property and don’t pay for the privilege—the state must pass a law allowing you to sue.

So, IJ convinced the Supreme Court to take up Richie’s case to undo this evisceration of the Constitution’s most basic protection for property rights. But once the Court agreed to take the case, the State of Texas completely changed its tune. The State had argued in the lower courts that Richie couldn’t sue under the Fifth Amendment. Facing off against IJ at the Court, it reversed course and conceded that state law does let Richie sue under the Takings Clause. With this concession, the high court overturned the appeals court decision and sent Richie’s case back to Texas to proceed under Texas law.

Unfortunately, because the Court says Richie has a way to sue under Texas law, including filing a claim under the Takings Clause, it declined to answer the bigger question: whether everyone can sue directly under the Takings Clause of the U.S. Constitution. To IJ, the answer is obviously yes. The Constitution is an empty promise if it can’t be enforced.

But that is a fight for another day (and one we will gladly take on). For now, Richie and his neighbors will get their day in court to seek justice.

Thank you for standing with us as we fight to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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