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STAND TALL: a SUCCESS!
April 20th brought a full day music festival here on our farm. Thanks to the dedicated help of many friends the event went on without a hitch.
Many thanks to everyone who came out to enjoy a great day of great music and camaraderie while supporting our family's fight to protect our land.
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To view the full set of photos from the event click HERE |
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or mail check to:
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*Stand With Julia*“Our appellate brief is now in front the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals and we are confident this panel of experienced judges will give all the issues the thoughtful consideration and thorough review they deserve. Since the lower court's ruling against us in August we've worked diligently to elevate the dialogue around property rights and eminent domain abuse.” A heartfelt thank you to everyone who stands with us. It will take all of us linking arms to bring about change. In solidarity, Julia Trigg Crawford
Please Stay Tuned to Ongoing Developments
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“There’s no such thing as a voluntary agreement with a company or government that has the power to take your property,” —Bill Peacock, vice president for the Texas Public Policy Foundation In Direct, Texas (a little bitty town near Paris, in NE Texas), farm manager Julia Trigg Crawford manages a 600-acre farm that’s been in her family since 1948. Canadian pipeline company, TransCanada, threatens her family’s health and their farm that is adjacent to the Red River. Mega-corporation, TransCanada, the company proposing the Keystone XL project, wants to seize parts of the Crawford’s land to build a 36” pipeline that will pump corrosive tar sands -- at a pressure far higher than conventional oil – down to refineries in South Texas. When TransCanada came knocking to try and buy the Crawford family land, Julia Trigg did not want to sell. “One of my first concerns was, to go the path they had planned, they had to horizontally drill under the creek that I have water rights to... I didn’t exactly want this sludge being pumped underneath the creek.” —Julia Trigg Crawford After the Crawford family refused to sell to TransCanada, the next step for this foreign company was to condemn their land. They legally had the power to do this because – and you’re not going to believe this – they simply checked a box on a “T4” form for the Texas Railroad Commission (the body that regulates the oil and gas industry in Texas) that says ‘common carrier.’ Common carrier status carries with it the power of eminent domain – the right to seize property. Meanwhile, the Railroad Commission openly states that they have no regulatory authority to make sure that a private company does not abuse the power of eminent domain. And, guess what, the Commission filed an amicus letter stating that they wanted to keep things the way they are. Julia Trigg Crawford is a 6’0” former star basketball player for Texas A&M – the Governor’s alma mater. So far, the Governor and our two US Senators, Cornyn and Hutchison, are siding with TransCanada and apparently see no problem with the abuse of eminent domain in Texas. The point is that ordinary Texans do see a real problem with eminent domain and they are standing behind Julia Trigg Crawford and her family. Make TransCanada Prove Its Common Carrier Status!or mail check to: The Texas Supreme Court recently ruled in Texas Rice Land vs. Denbury Green decision that the T-4 permit granted by the Railroad Commission does not conclusively establish eminent-domain power. Ruling in favor of the Texas rice farmers, the court stated: “Private property cannot be imperiled with such nonchalance, via an irrefutable presumption created by checking a certain box on a one-page government form. Our constitution demands far more.” And: “The Railroad Commission’s process for handling T-4 permits appears to be one of registration, not of application... No hearing is held, no evidence is presented, no investigation is conducted.” Stand Up with Julia Trigg Crawford and Her Family to Save Their LandJulia Trigg and her family refused to settle with TransCanada. When TransCanada asked a judge to condemn their land, they pointed to their T-4 permit to prove their common carrier status. If checking a box does not conclusively establish eminent domain power, then TransCanada took the Crawford family’s land before they ever had to show proof of fulfilling the legal requirements of a public pipeline. Donate to the Crawford Legal Defense FundThe Crawford family has decided to fight the oil giant TransCanada for their land and for the rights of all property owners in Texas. Stand with them against corporate bullies that use unconstitutional legal loopholes to steal land from Texas property owners. This fight will be long and costly – please donate to the Crawford Family Legal Defense Fund today. 100% of the funds collected on this site are going to support the Crawford Family Defense Fund and will be used to aid
them in their fight against eminent domain abuse by TransCanada. Your donation is not tax deductible. For questions
concerning this fund, contact the overseer Calvin Tillman at crawforddefensefund@gmail.com.
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