WINNIE, Texas — A Southeast Texas right's fight has made it all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court.
Richie Devillier of Winnie claims that the rebuilding of I-10 has been creating big problems on the land his family has owned for four generations.
After a grueling seven-year battle, finally on Jan. 16, 2024, Devillier and attorneys will travel to Washington to plead their case.
He and his family have never had an issue with flooding until the Texas Department of Transportation (TxDOT) started rebuilding I-10, according to Devillier.
900 acres of farmland has been turned into a 900 acre lake, twice. This comes six years after Harvey and four years after Imelda.
He claims this is responsible for killing some of his livestock.
"We lost I think it was about 60 head of cattle, seven horses, and one colt and numerous calves," Devillier previously told 12News.
Attorneys with the "Institute for Justice" argue that the state should have compensated him for his lost livestock and land.
"The 5th amendment to the constitution says if the government needs to build a dam and flood land, it has to pay for the land that it's turned into a lake," said attorney, Robert McNamara. "Richie was told by a Texas Department of Transportation engineer that part of the reason to have a dam in the middle of a highway was to keep the south side of the highway dry."
McNamara says when Devillier begged for the median to be taken down, TxDOT refused.
"They were told the Texas department of transportation is in the highway business, not the drainage business and they were told that Texas liked having the south side of the highway dry," McNamara said.
Devillier says moving out off of his property located north of I-10 is not an option, regardless of the US Supreme Court's decision.
"I've worked all my life here to build what little bit of wealth, if any, we have," Devillier said. "That's a lifelong investment that I'm not willing to give up."
Devillier and McNamara agree that if the court rules in favor of the state, the result could create a legal ripple effect across the country.
"If this can happen to Richie, this can happen to anyone. This case isn't just about a flood, this is fundamentally about whether the constitution matters. We say it does, Texas says it doesn't and we're going to find out which one of us is right," Devillier said.
Devillier and McNamara say they will be the second case of the day to be heard on Jan. 16 and they expect the supreme court to make it's final decision in June at the latest.