Farmer Gains Supreme Court’s Ear, Landmark Property Rights Hearing Awaits

After the government twice flooded a farmer’s home and 900 acres, killed his cattle, and insisted he foot the bill—the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the case.

When a new highway flood wall twice trapped Richie Devillier’s land within a figurative bathtub and erased several generations’ worth of toil in 2017 and 2019, Texas state officials refused to pay damages. In 2020, Devillier sued for compensation under the Fifth Amendment, but was told he had no legal grounds to seek compensation from the state.

However, on Sept. 29, 2023, SCOTUS agreed to take Devillier’s case. “This case is about basic government accountability and whether the government has to give you what the Constitution says you’re entitled to. The Constitution says, ‘yes,’ Texas says, ‘no,’ and the Supreme Court is going to decide,” explains Bob McNamara, attorney with Institute for Justice.

Holding the Bag

Since 1920, the Devillier family has farmed their high-ground land in southeast Texas’ Chambers County, outside Winnie, roughly 60 miles east of Houston. Across 100 years of rice cultivation and cattle production, there were no floods on the Devillier property—until 2017, after the Texas Department of Transportation renovated nearby Interstate 10, raising its height, adding two lanes, and installing a concrete barrier in the median. As a result, with heavy rains, Devillier’s land turns into a lake.

Devillier’s case has implications for property owners nationwide, McNamara explains: “A victory for Richie will mean that governments cannot simply destroy the property you’ve worked so hard to own and leave you holding the bag.”

For the complete story on Devillier’s flood battle, see Farmer Nightmare: Government Floods Family Twice, Kills Herd, and Refuses to Pay Damages.