Supreme Court Considers Landmark Case on Property Rights

The outcome could redefine states' obligations to compensate landowners for property damage under the Fifth Amendment.

Supreme Court heard arguments on Tuesday in a landmark case that could determine whether landowners have a legal right to sue states for compensation for property damage under the Taking Clauses of the Fifth Amendment.
Texas rice farmer Richard DeVillier and more than 70 other landowners claim that state-backed expansion works on the freeway have caused devastating flooding on their properties, equating to the government taking their property.
The state of Texas argues that it does not need to pay because it has no intention of actually taking the property and that the Takings Clause isn't self-executing, only Congress can extend a federal right to sue a state for taking private property.
The Supreme Court now has to decide whether a state can be sued for violating the Fifth Amendment. The ruling could potentially have a dramatic impact on expanding—or restricting—the rights of landowners in the entire country.
Regardless of the outcome, Robert McNamara, an attorney with the legal nonprofit Institute of Justice and the lead counsel now representing DeVillier, left the hearing optimistic that Texas landowners would prevail.