Articles

A disappointing Balloon Track decision

June 30, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Late yesterday, the California First District Court of Appeal ruled in Citizens for a Eureka v. California Coastal Commission that the Commission has Coastal Act appellate jurisdiction over the Balloon Track nuisance abatement.  PLF attorneys represent the Citizens, and had argued that the Coastal Act's pro ...

Articles

Polar bear listing upheld – but court gets it wrong!

June 30, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Reed Hopper In May, 2008, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the polar bear as a "threatened" species under the Endangered Species Act.  This resulted in a number of challenges by environmental groups, the State of Alaska, conservation groups, and Pacific Legal Foundation representing farmers, land owners, as well as ...

Articles

A major step forward for California property owners

June 29, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur California Governor Jerry Brown today signed legislation that—at least temporarily—abolishes the state’s Redevelopment Agencies, the government organizations almost entirely responsible for eminent domain abuse in the state. This is not the end of the story, since the legislation allows Redevelopment Agencies to r ...

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Blogosphere commentary on Sackett

June 29, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Damien M. Schiff The Legal Planet Blog had two posts yesterday on the Sackett case, from Professor Richard Frank and Professor Holly Doremus.  Professor Doremus suggests in her post that the Sacketts could have avoided all this trouble had they simply applied for a jurisdictional determination from the U.S. Army Corps of Engine ...

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Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals upholds constitutionality of Obamacare

June 29, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur The Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals has just issued its decision in the Thomas More Law Center case and has upheld the constitutionality of Obamacare. (PLF was not involved in this case.) I have not yet read the opinion, but you can read it at this link. I will have more on … ...

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New Shoreline Master Program might eliminate iconic "liveaboards"

June 29, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Daniel Himebaugh The Seattle Times reports that the City of Seattle's forthcoming Shoreline Master Program could spell the end of house barges in the city's marinas.  House barges are vessels that people use as residences.  They are also known as "liveaboards."  Think of the floating home from Sleepless i ...

Articles

Summer reading : Harmony and the soft tyranny of paternalism

June 28, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Brian T. Hodges The Japanese science fiction novel Harmony, by Project Itoh, is a timely cautionary tale about the struggle between individuality and government control.  Itoh shares his intricate and multi-layered vision of a world in the not-too-distant future where much of the population has been lost to disease and war.  Adv ...

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Sacketts : last chance for justice

June 28, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Damien Schiff This morning, the United States Supreme Court issued an order agreeing to take up PLF’s case representing Mike and Chantell Sackett.  The question of whether the EPA can assert federal land use control over any wet area in this country, and deny a landowner a fair and effective means of challenging the agency’ ...

Articles

Government’s CON job

June 27, 2011 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Timothy Sandefur The cover story of the new issue of Regulation magazine is my article on “Certificate of Necessity” (CON) laws, including the law that we’re challenging in the case of Missouri entrepreneur Michael Munie. CON laws are laws that require businesses to prove to a government agency that there’s a “ ...