Articles

Constitutional rights stand in the way of "democracy"

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur Jacob Sullum puts it well: In their dissenting opinions in McDonald v. Chicago, Justices John Paul Stevens and Stephen Breyer (joined by Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Sonia Sotomayor) worry that overturning gun control laws undermines democracy. If "the people" want to ban handguns, they say, "the people" shou ...

Articles

Does the Constitution mean only what the judges say it means?

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur A common saying among lawyers is that the Constitution is whatever five justices say it is. Indeed, according to certain “realists,” the Constitution actually has no meaning until it is interpreted by the Supreme Court. There is no “fact of the matter” about the Constitution’s meaning, independ ...

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PLF on the road

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur Last evening I spoke at the annual convention of the American Health Lawyers Association in beautiful Seattle, Washington, on the topic of the constitutionality of the Obama Administration’s health care mandate—that is, the law that requires every American, no matter what, to buy health insurance from a private comp ...

Articles

PLF : The "ring-the-bells-for-freedom" organization

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Joshua Thompson That's how the Orange County Register describes Pacific Legal Fondation in an article describing PLF's role in the lawsuit against the retroactive pension winfdall for Orange County public safety workers.  To wit: So last week it was Attorney General/Candidate for Governor Jerry Brown weighing in on ...

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Speculating on the public dime : Burien is latest eminent domain loser

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Daniel Himebaugh The city of Burien, Washington is in the news this week because its "Town Square" condo project has run into serious financial difficulty.  While the reporting on Town Square's problems has highlighted slow sales, some vital details about the development are not being reported.  The property where ...

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Elena Kagan and the delta smelt

June 30, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brandon Middleton Folks are concerned about Elena Kagan's response (or lack thereof) to Sen. Tom Coburn's questions about Commerce Clause jurisprudence.  And rightly so.  Here it is in case you missed it: The government that is regulating a noncommercial fish is the same government that will dictate your nutrition.& ...

Articles

PLF targets OC's "retro" pension hikes

June 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Pacific Legal Foundation announced today that it has filed a legal brief arguing that a massive retroactive pension windfall for Orange County public-safety workers was invalid, because the people’s constitutional right to vote on the giveaway was ignored. PLF’s friend-of-the-court brief was filed in state appellate court, in support of ...

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McDonald and incremental changes

June 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author Timothy Sandefur It’s darkly amusing that, seventy years after the New Deal, it’s the “liberals” who are the conservatives, trying desperately to resist changes in the law that would recognize the rights of individual liberty; making the weakest arguments for retaining old, worn-out legal theories like “rational ...

Articles

Hearing this week in Connerly v. Schwarzenegger

June 29, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Joshua Thompson On Friday, July 2, I will be in the Sacramento Superior Court arguing the case of Connerly v. Schwarzenegger.   Pacific Legal Foundation is representing Ward Connerly and the American Civil Rights Foundation in their challenge regarding the constitutionality of various public contracting statutes.  This case arose after t ...