Cases
Royall v. Main
Vindicating the Right to Protest Eminent Domain Abuse:
Journalist, Prominent Law Professor Fight Frivolous Lawsuit.
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Dallas developer H. Walker Royall has sued journalist Carla Main, pictured, Prof. Richard Epstein and Encounter Books (the publisher) for defamation over the contents of Bulldozed. |
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In perhaps the most striking example of a disturbing and growing national trend, Dallas developer H. Walker Royall has launched a lawsuit spree to silence anyone who dares shine a spotlight on his abuse of eminent domain. Similar suits have been filed in Tennessee, Missouri and elsewhere by developers and governments looking to silence critics of eminent domain for private gain.
When the victims of his eminent domain abuse in Freeport, Texas, complained, Royall sued them for defamation. When an investigative journalist wrote a book exposing the project, he sued her, as well as her publisher, for defamation. He even sued a prominent law professor who wrote a blurb for the book’s dust jacket. When someone reviewed the book, he sued him. When a newspaper ran that review, he sued the newspaper.
Rather than try to defend his indefensible effort to have the government take someone’s land for his private development project, H. Walker Royall sues and sues and sues and sues.
The city of Freeport is attempting to force out a generations-old family shrimp and marine supply business to make way for a luxury marina development that was to be owned and operated by Royall’s private company. The shrimp and marine supply businesses are owned by the Gore family, which does not want to move and does not want to sell its business to the city, or Royall, at any price. The project has since been repeatedly delayed. In the meantime, the Gore family continues to operate its businesses under threat of condemnation.
Journalist Carla Main wrote a book about what happened in Freeport. Her book, Bulldozed: “Kelo,” Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land tells the story of the Gores and how Royall and the city tried to force the family out of its business. Prominent law professor Richard Epstein (University of Chicago and New York University) contributed a blurb to the back cover of Bulldozed.
Royall sued Main, Epstein and Encounter Books (the publisher) for defamation over the contents of Bulldozed. He has also sued two newspaper companies and a journalist who published a review of Bulldozed.
Royall is attempting to use the power of the courts to silence his critics. As the Founders recognized, a free and unbridled press is a cornerstone of a healthy and functioning democracy.
Eminent domain abuse is a matter of public concern—that’s why journalists like Carla Main write books about it. That’s why the First Amendment protects the right of people to engage in a vigorous and, at times, heated public debate about important issues. The American public is outraged by eminent domain abuse. The Freeport case was part of the reason Texas became the second state to reform its eminent domain laws after the infamous Kelo v. New London eminent domain case was decided by the U.S. Supreme Court. The First Amendment protects every American’s right to speak out against cities and developers who abuse eminent domain by taking private property from one person only to hand it over to another private party in the name of economic development.
To vindicate that right to free speech and to stop developers like Royall from using defamation lawsuits to intimidate their critics, the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter (IJ-TX) is defending Main, Encounter, and Epstein against Royall’s lawsuit.
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