Southwest
Both sides claim victory after Supreme Court rules Texas rancher can sue state over flooded lands
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled Tuesday that ranchers can sue the state of Texas over highway construction they allege flooded their lands.
“This is the pinnacle of a long, hard-fought battle, and we can’t stress enough what a blessing this is,” rancher Richie DeVillier said in a statement after the ruling.
But in an unusual twist, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton is also claiming victory, stating the court’s decision protects “the ability of Texas to handle compensation disputes under State law for any allegedly taken property.”
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that Richie DeVillier and other property owners can sue the state of Texas under the Fifth Amendment. (Courtesy Institute for Justice)
SUPREME COURT HEARS CASE OF TEXAS GRANDMOTHER THROWN IN JAIL AFTER CRITICIZING CITY GOVERNMENT
DeVillier’s family has lived in Winnie, Texas, since the early 1900s when his great-grandfather homesteaded the land. In all that time, their 900 acres had never flooded because water naturally flowed south to the Gulf of Mexico, DeVillier said.
Then the Texas Department of Transportation renovated Interstate 10 along the ranch, widening the highway, raising it a foot and a half and adding an impermeable, nearly three-foot-high concrete barrier along the middle of it, according to DeVillier and his lawyers from the Institute for Justice.
The ranch turned into a lake when Hurricane Harvey hit. In addition to extensive damage to their home and belongings, the DeVilliers lost about 60 of their 300 cows and calves, plus seven horses.
“That was one of the most horrible things that I’ve had to go through,” DeVillier previously told Fox News. “It’s hard enough seeing a cow drowned. But horses are a different thing. Horses are parts of our souls.”
Two years later, Tropical Storm Imelda hit and their ranch flooded again.
Left, Richie DeVillier’s son leans over the side of a boat to hold a calf’s head above water. Center, hay bales and ranch equipment stick out of the floodwaters following Hurricane Harvey in 2017. Right, water covers one side of Interstate 10. (Courtesy Institute for Justice)
CANCER SURVIVOR DEALT NEW BLOW AFTER TEXAS POLICE DESTROYED HER HOUSE, BUT LAWYERS SAY CITY STILL HAS TO PAY
The DeVilliers and their neighbors sued, arguing that Texas can turn their farms into a lake if it needs to, but not without paying the property owners. They pointed to the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution, which protects Americans against the taking of property by the government without compensation.
Texas argued that the Takings Clause in the Fifth Amendment didn’t apply since it doesn’t explicitly indicate that a state government must provide just compensation for property it seizes or damages. The 5th Circuit Court of Appeals agreed.
But Texas changed course in January when attorneys presented their cases before the Supreme Court, telling the justices that the ranchers could in fact sue in state court under the Fifth Amendment.
“You’re the one who removed to federal court,” Justice Sonia Sotomayor said at the time. “This seems to me like a totally made-up case because they did exactly what they had to do under Texas law.”
Texas Solicitor General Aaron Nielson rejected that characterization, saying the state may simply have “misunderstood” what the ranchers were arguing, according to SCOTUS transcripts. Nielson said Texas would not oppose an attempt by DeVillier to amend the lawsuit and proceed under state law, according to the court’s opinion, written by Justice Clarence Thomas.
WATCH: RANCHER SAYS TEXAS HIGHWAY PROJECT FLOODED HIS LAND, KILLING CATTLE AND HORSES:
WATCH MORE FOX NEWS DIGITAL ORIGINALS HERE
The Supreme Court unanimously vacated the 5th Circuit decision and ruled that the DeVilliers and other property owners should be allowed to “pursue their claims under the Takings Clause through the cause of action available under Texas law.”
“Texas’s rapid about-face at the Supreme Court means that Richie and his family will still have their day in court,” IJ President and Chief Council Scott Bullock said in a prepared statement.
But Paxton’s office declared itself the winner in the case in a press release Tuesday afternoon.
“For as long as Texas has been Texas, it has recognized that property rights are crucial to a free society,” Paxton said. “Under the U.S. Constitution, such claims should be pursued under state law unless Congress has said otherwise. I’m pleased the Supreme Court agreed with us unanimously that citizens should sue under Texas law.”
IJ Deputy Litigation Director Robert McNamara, who argued on DeVillier’s behalf, was baffled by Texas’ characterization of the outcome.
“The upshot of today’s decision is that Richie’s case against Texas is going to trial when Texas didn’t want it to,” McNamara said. “That’s what losing looks like.”
The Texas attorney general’s office did not respond to emailed questions about the case. The state doesn’t admit or deny in court documents that raising the interstate caused the flooding.
To hear more from DeVillier and to see video of the floods, click here.
Read the full article from Here
Los Angeles, Ca
L.A. Jewish institution among targets of foiled terrorist attack, U.S. officials say
A Jewish institution in Los Angeles was among the locations targeted in a recently foiled terrorism plot, U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Jay Clayton announced this week.
The thwarted terrorist attacks were the result of the recent arrest of Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, an Iraqi national and senior member of Kata’ib Hizballah, U.S. officials said.
“Mohammad Baqer Saad Dawood Al-Saadi, a commander for the terrorist organization, Kata’ib Hizballah, faces serious charges for his role in numerous attacks against U.S. interests across the globe, including his efforts to kill on U.S. soil,” Clayton said. “As alleged, for years, Al-Saadi committed himself to furthering the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the IRGC, two terrorist organizations dedicated to harming the United States and its allies.”
Al-Saadi recently attempted to carry out attacks in the U.S., officials said, including attacks at Jewish cultural places of interest in New York, Los Angeles and Scottsdale, Ariz.
“Al-Saadi attempted to disrupt American society through intimidation and violence,” a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office reads. “… Those who engage in or support terrorism against Americans and on U.S. soil should take note: the whole of the federal government is committed to dismantling terrorist organizations and bringing their members to justice.”
In a three-month period, Al-Saadi allegedly directed 18 terrorist attacks throughout Europe, including bombings, arson, and assaults targeting American citizens and points of interest. Prior to his arrest, national security officials say he was planning similar attacks on U.S. soil. Assistant Attorney General for National Security John A. Eisenberg said that Al-Saadi “presented a serious threat to our national security.”
The European attacks included the bombing of the Bank of New York Mellon, an American bank, in Amsterdam on March 15. On April 29, two Jewish men, one of whom was a dual U.S.-British citizen, were stabbed and seriously injured in London.
In 2020, Al-Saadi took to social media, calling for others to attack and kill Americans in retribution for the deaths of Iranian military officer Qasem Soleimani and Iraqi military commander Abu Mahdi al-Muhandis, U.S. officials said. In more recent months, Al-Saadi allegedly used social media to encourage the killing of Americans and Jews to further the terrorist goals of Kata’ib Hizballah and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.
“In or about February 2026, for example, AL-SAADI posted on one of his social media accounts a message in Arabic, which read in part, ‘Do not abandon the blood of your Imam of the time, oh Shiites of Iraq. Kill everyone who supports America and Israel. Do not leave any of them remaining. Civil and military targets, as well as voices of discord, kill them everywhere.’” U.S. officials said.
NYPD Commissioner Jessica S. Tisch confirmed that one of the U.S. targets was a Manhattan synagogue. On April 3, Al-Saadi allegedly spoke to an undercover law enforcement officer whom Al-Saadi believed could carry out attacks in the U.S. That same day, Al-Saadi allegedly texted the undercover officers photographs and maps showing the exact location of a prominent Jewish synagogue in New York City.
Officials have not said what specific locations in L.A. and Arizona were targeted by the terrorist group.
Al-Saadi now faces numerous charges for these crimes in U.S. court. If convicted, he could be sentenced to life in prison.
The case is under investigation by the FBI’s New York Joint Terrorism Task Force, which is comprised of investigators and analysts from the FBI, the NYPD, the FBI Washington Field Office, Counterterrorism Division, and more than 50 other federal, state, and local agencies. Investigators also received help from the Department of Justice’s National Security Division, Counterterrorism Section, the Office of International Affairs of the Justice Department’s Criminal Division, and U.S. Customs and Border Protection.
A man armed with a knife was shot by L.A. police officers responding to an assault with a deadly weapon call overnight, authorities said.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, officers with the Hollenbeck Division responded to an apartment complex in the 3000 block of Glenn Avenue in Boyle Heights at 1:45 a.m. Saturday after callers reported a male suspect was armed with a knife and had just assaulted someone in the complex.
Arriving officers found the suspect in front of the residence, but he did not comply with officers’ commands to drop the weapon. He then advanced toward the officers and an officer-involved shooting occurred, LAPD confirmed.
“The suspect was struck by gunfire and remained non-compliant,” the LAPD Public Information Officer said on X early Saturday morning. “Officers deployed a 40mm foam round and ultimately took the suspect into custody.”
Video obtained by KTLA shows the man being loaded into an ambulance and taken to a hospital; officials said he was transported in stable condition, adding that his knife was recovered at the scene and booked as evidence.
No officers or community members were injured during the incident. The man’s name was not released.
Dangerous rip currents and high surf are forecast for Los Angeles County beaches, including the Malibu Coast this weekend.
The National Weather Service has issued a hazardous beach statement, warning of the potentially deadly beach conditions. The dangerous conditions are forecast to last from Saturday evening to Monday morning.
“There is an increased risk of ocean drowning,” the NWS forecast reads. “Rip currents can pull swimmers and surfers out to sea. Waves can wash people off beaches and rocks, and capsize small boats nearshore.”
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A guide to surviving rip currents from the National Weather Service (NWS)
Minor Beach erosion and coastal flooding is possible through the weekend. The flooding is most likely to occur during evening high tides from 7 p.m. to 11 p.m.
Beachgoers are advised to stay out of the water and remain near lifeguard towers. Jetties and tidepools are also especially dangerous during the weekend forecast.
“Rock jetties can be deadly in such conditions, stay off the rocks,” the NWS forecast reads.
Similar hazardous beach conditions are also in the forecast for Santa Barbara County. A high surf advisory is also in effect for Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties this weekend, where 10 to 15-foot waves will be possible.
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