A Texas family that has owned land in Freeport since 1940 is preparing to file a new legal appeal after a state trial court ruled against them in an ongoing fight over eminent domain. A Texas trial court granted summary judgment against the Marshall family and other landowners in Freeport's historically Black East End neighborhood. The ruling allows Port Freeport to continue taking private property, where a cold-storage fruit warehouse for a private company has already been built next to their land. With support from the public-interest law firm Institute for Justice, the Marshall family plans to challenge the ruling before the Texas Court of Appeals. The legal team argues that the port authority is using public taking powers to support private commercial projects instead of a valid public purpose. "The Texas Constitution is clear on this matter and we plan on making that clear before the Texas Court of Appeals," said Institute for Justice Senior Attorney Jeffrey Redfern in a statement released by the organization. "The government cannot just use eminent domain to take the Marshalls' land simply because the Port thought it could. The Constitution demands more."
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