Marylander asks SCOTUS to step in after Fourth Circuit demands he petition county legislature before it will hear his lawsuit

In 1978, Garnell Walls bought a plot of land in Brandywine, Maryland, and set it aside for a project he would pursue decades later: building a single-family home in the serene countryside. While he held off on construction until retirement, he laid some essential groundwork when he purchased the lot, including tests to install water and septic systems to serve the rural property. In 2019, he decided the time was right to revisit his plans and begin applying for building permits.

Just the year before, Prince George’s County had issued a new water and sewer plan. It offered local property owners a way to apply for waivers to install interim well and septic systems on rural lots that the County didn’t currently service. Because the only other option was to spend over $2 million laying pipes to connect to the nearest public line, Walls applied.

But the local government announced it would not grant Walls a waiver. Instead, it told him his only recourse was to petition the county legislature. In Maryland, properties are assigned water and sewer “categories” ranging from 1 to 6 to denote whether the County will provide you with public amenities or deny your access. Prince George’s County told Walls to ask the legislature to grant him a category amendment—twice—to change his property’s “categories” from a 5 to a 4, then again from a 4 to a 3. Even if both amendments were granted, that change would not allow him the privilege of connecting to the well and septic system necessary for any home on the land. Instead, it would only allow him to connect to water and sewer lines the County may, or may not, build someday.

The County’s denial stripped any potential use from his property and left him with a lot that had been declared unusable by government fiat alone. But Walls wasn’t ready to give up on his home. He resolved to challenge the County’s actions as a violation of his Fifth Amendment right to just compensation.

The County asked the court to dismiss his case, arguing that Walls couldn’t sue until after he had petitioned the legislature. The district court and a later circuit court upheld this notion in an unpublished ruling.

The Constitution guarantees all Americans the right to sue the government for violating their rights. The government cannot use legal gamesmanship to prevent you from accessing a court to seek justice, nor can it claim you have to repeatedly petition the legislature before your lawsuit has merit.

Walls partnered with Pacific Legal Foundation to file a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to overturn the lower courts’ rulings and arguing that the government cannot use the legislative process as an excuse to bar property owners from the courts.

If successful, his case will affirm all Americans’ right to access a courtroom and seek justice when their rights have been trampled on by their government.