Love Cemetery lies outside the town of Scottsville in Harrison County, Texas. The cemetery is historically a burial ground for African-Americans, with some of the graves dating back to well before the Civil War. Recently, the cemetery has been untended and has become overgrown with chest-high weeds.
The reason the cemetery has become overgrown with weeds is because the descendents of those buried there have been denied access to the site. They say the logging company that owns the land adjacent to the cemetary (Snider Industries) will not let them cross it's land to get to the cemetery.
The company says it is just thinking of the safety of the visitors. They say they will allow access if the visitors will purchase insurance -- insurance that would cost them $34,000 a year. Until the insurance is purchased, visitors will be arrested for trespassing.
It sounds like the company is thinking less about visitor safety and more about their own personal liability. There is a state law that says access to a cemetery must be granted, but it is one of those laws that is rarely enforced.
It may be time for the state to step into this disagreement and enforce it's law. It's simply wrong to deny these people access to the burial place of their descendents.
This is a good example of the necessity of a proper lawsuit by the people vs. Snider Industries. $34,000 a year??! What kind of bs is that? What kind of insurance is that?
ReplyDeleteRead the Dallas Morning News article! The company only wants the cemetery group to abide by the agreement they signed with the company that owned the land before Snider Industries ever bought it. In the agreement they agree to get some kind of insurance. BTW, why hasn't anyone said anything about the landowner whose land the cemetery is actully located. That landowner won't let the group cross either because of trophy deer. Until you've had to defend yourself in a silly frivilous lawsuit, you shouldn't blame a company for protecting itself.
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