Following up on our earlier post, “‘No, I’m Spartacus!’” about the latest foul turn in the Bulldozed saga, the Institute for Justice (the folks who represented Susette Kelo) today announced that they are representing Carla T. Main, Bulldozed‘s author, in the defamation suit filed against her and and lawprof Richard Epstein (who had the temerity to review her book positively). We reviewed Bulldozed here. The IJ released this statement:
Dallas, Texas—Inperhaps the most striking example of a disturbing national trend,Dallas developer H. Walker Royall has launched a lawsuit spree tosilence any media or public affairs commentator who dares expose hisattempted abuse of eminent domain. Similar suits have been filed inTennessee, Missouri and elsewhere by developers and governments lookingto silence critics of eminent domain for private gain.
Royallworked with the city of Freeport, Texas, to try to condemn agenerations-old shrimp business owned by the Gore family to make wayfor a luxury marina. The project became the subject of the book, Bulldozed: “Kelo,” Eminent Domain, and the American Lust for Land, authored by veteran legal journalist Carla Main. Bulldozed tellsthe story of Freeport’s plan to take the Gores’ waterfront property forRoyall’s luxury marina development project. Only hours after the U.S.Supreme Court’s infamous Kelo v. City of New London eminent domain abuse decision, the city instructed its attorneys to redouble their efforts to seize the Gore family business. Bulldozedunravels why, after years of litigation, the threat of condemnationcontinues to hang over the Gores. The book was reviewed in manynewspapers, including The Wall Street Journal, was nominatedfor the Texas Historical Commission’s annual T.R. Fehrenbach Book Awardand it won a highly competitive independent press award for politicalscience writing.
After journalist Main wrote her book exposingthe Freeport land grab, Royall sued her as well as her publisher,Encounter Books, for defamation. He even sued nationally renowned LawProfessor Richard Epstein who wrote a blurb for the book’s dustjacket. When someone reviewed the book, he sued him. When twonewspapers published that review, he sued them.
Today(Wednesday, December 10, 2008), the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter(IJ-TX) filed a notice of appearance with the Dallas County DistrictCourt in order to vindicate the right of author Main, her publisher andProfessor Epstein to freely debate eminent domain abuse.
“Ratherthan try to defend his indefensible effort to have the government takesomeone’s land for his private development project, H. Walker Royallsues and sues and sues and sues,” said Matt Miller, executive directorof the Institute for Justice Texas Chapter, which is defending thebook’s author, the publisher and law professor Epstein.
Earlier,when the Gores—the original victims of Royall’s eminent domain abuseeffort in Freeport—complained against Royall’s actions, he sued themfor defamation. That lawsuit is ongoing.
Main is a veteran journalist who was an associate editor of The National Law Journal, where she edited the opinion page and wrote a column on law and society. She wrote for The Wall Street Journal, Policy Review, National Review, The American Lawyer and The New York Sun, among other publications. Before becoming a journalist, Main practiced as an attorney in New York City for ten years.
“Thebook was a labor of love,” said Main. “I researched it meticulouslyand gave Mr. Royall multiple opportunities to be interviewed. Hisprimary complaint about the book seems to be that I described him asparticipating in an economic development taking, which he did.”
RichardEpstein is the James Parker Hall Distinguished Service Professor of Lawat the University of Chicago Law School, where he has taught since1972. He also teaches at the New York University School of Law. Epstein has published 14 books. His Torts and Cases and Materials on Torts textbooks are widely used in law schools across the country. In 1985, Epstein published Takings: Private Property and Eminent Domain,a book about the Fifth Amendment and the limits of the government’spower to use eminent domain to take private property. The book hasbeen cited four times by the U.S. Supreme Court. Takings is an essential book in the debate about eminent domain and property rights in America.
Epsteinwas sued by Royall over a small blurb on the back cover of Bulldozed. Epstein said, “It is a sad day in the life of America when a powerfulindividual like H. Walker Royall, who has complete access to the media,thinks that the appropriate response to criticism is to remain silentand then to bring a defamation action against those who comment on hisdeeds.” Writing an admiring blurb is not something Epstein everexpected would get him sued. “There are few times in my professionalcareer when I’ve been flabbergasted and this is definitely one ofthem,” said Epstein, who has been a law professor for more than 40years. Epstein’s blurb reads, in its entirety:
“Like a Greektragedy unfolding, Carla Main’s book chronicles the eminent domainstruggles in Freeport, Texas, which pitted the Gore family, with itslongtime shrimp business, against the machinations of an unholyalliance between city politicians and avaricious developers. If youhave ever shared the Supreme Court’s unquestioned deference to thepublic planning process that shaped its ill-fated Kelodecision, you’ll surely change your mind as you follow this sordid sagato its bitter end. You’ll never look at eminent domain in the same wayagain.”
Encounter Books is a non-profit publisher thatpromotes democratic culture with a catalogue of award-winning andimportant books. Encounter Books has more than 100 titles on topicsincluding religion, military affairs, Greek civilization and currentevents. Roger Kimball, president and publisher of Encounter Books,also publishes The New Criterion magazine. Kimball said,“There is the First Amendment, which I think is very much at stake inthis case. There is also the broader issue of public education.”
“Eminentdomain for private gain is the subject of nationwide public debate,”said senior attorney Dana Berliner, who was co-counsel in the Kelocase and who will help direct this litigation. “If Walker Royalldidn’t want anyone to talk about him or his development deals, heshouldn’t have made a deal to develop a private marina using publicmoney and someone else’s land. The Constitution protects people whotalk about important issues like eminent domain abuse by governmentsand private developers. If developers don’t want people writing aboutthem, then they shouldn’t be involved with government’s abuse ofeminent domain.”
The freedom to learn about eminent domain abuse is also at stake because Royall is asking the court to stop the presses on Bulldozed,preventing anyone else from reading the book. “Mr. Royall should tellthe public why he doesn’t like Carla Main’s book, rather than try tocensor it,” said Wesley Hottot, an IJ-TX staff attorney.