Articles

Is there a de minimis exception to the Equal Protection Clause?

March 31, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Ralph W. Kasarda Would the government be correct in arguing that a public contracting scheme that discriminates and grants preferences on the basis of race is not subject to strict scrutiny, if the program discriminates only a little bit? I recently participated in oral argument before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in PLF& ...

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Is it illegal? You’ll find out after you’re arrested

March 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur Forbes.com has published my editorial on the case of Skilling v. United States, currently being considered by the Supreme Court. That’s the case against former Enron CEO Jeffrey Skilling, who was convicted of several charges arising from that firm’s collapse years ago. One of the laws under which Skilling is cha ...

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Another sage grouse lawsuit in the offing

March 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Yesterday, Center for Biological Diversity (CBD) and two other environmental groups announced their intention to sue the United States Fish & Wildlife Service's decision that listing the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is "warranted but precluded" by higher-priority actions.& ...

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Featherbedding in L.A.—a reimagined classic

March 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur “Featherbedding” is an old union trick, whereby the union forces the employer to hire people who just sit around and do nothing. If the employer has a job that requires two workers, the union requires the employer to hire five. In one famous case in the 1980s, railroad unions forced railroads to … ...

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Reasonableness from NRDC?

March 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Last Friday, Doug Obegi of the Natural Resources Defense Council (NRDC) had this post on NRDC's Switchboard blog giving the environmental group's take on the recently issued NAS-NRC report on the Delta pumps and their effects on the Delta smelt and other ESA-protected species in the Delta (I blogged about the ...

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More Coastal Commission updates

March 26, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Yesterday my colleague Paul Beard reported on a disappointing decision in the First District.  Today's Santa Rosa Press Democrat has an article on the decision.  Also, a few days ago I reported on a Coastal Commission controversy in Dana Point.  Here's a piece discussing the City's decis ...

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Court of Appeal endorses Coastal Commission's near-limitless power over human activities

March 25, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Paul J. Beard II Today, the California Court of Appeal ruled that a 15-minute, Fourth-of-July fireworks display on private property in Gualala, California, is a "development" that may be regulated by the California Coastal Commission through its permitting process.  The reason?  A firewor ...

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Water controversy in Santa Clara County

March 25, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Today's San Jose Mercury News has this excellent piece recapping an ongoing controversy concerning "groundwater recharge fees" imposed by the Santa Clara Valley Water District on well owners in the District.  The basic controversy is this.  The Water District contends that well owners, by ex ...

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Takings victories made harder

March 24, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: R. S. Radford Professor Richard Epstein of the University of Chicago is universally acclaimed as one of the nation’s foremost champions of private property rights. This well-deserved reputation dates back to his classic 1985 text, Takings: Private Property and the Power of Eminent Domain. The Cato Institute, a Washington, DC think tan ...