Year after year public officials tell Texans they believe in limited government and protecting constitutional rights. In practice the opposite is true. Two Texas cases before the U.S. Supreme Court highlight the disconnect.
On Tuesday, the high court heard heard DeVillier v. Texas. Richie DeVillier and his family have tended a cattle ranch near Beaumont for four generations. They never had trouble with flooding. But when the Texas Department of Transportation raised Interstate 10 and installed a concrete dam down the median to keep the south lanes open during heavy rain, things changed.
DeVillier’s land became a large lake. Homes were flooded. Families were displaced. Cows and horses died. And equipment was destroyed.
That is a taking protected by the Fifth Amendment, which requires the government to pay just compensation. Texas agrees, but it argues that states get to choose whether to comply. According to Texas, unless Congress passes a law authorizing property owners to sue states for just compensation, property owners cannot force states to do so.
The Supreme Court will decide whether the Fifth Amendment means what it plainly says. A win for DeVillier would be a win for all Texans and all property owners nationwide.