Articles

A federal court in D.C. just threw out a case in which extreme environmentalists tried to force the United States to take immediate steps to curb carbon dioxide emissions to permanently reverse global warming.  Fearing the federal government would not adequately defend the lawsuit,  PLF successfully intervened in the lawsuit on behalf of severa ...

An excellent video explaining why states should resist the urge to begin implementing the Obamacare “exchanges,” at the very least, until the Supreme Court rules. … ...

Last week, the California Supreme Court granted review in Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley.  The case concerns the scope of the single-family residence “categorical exemption” under the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA).  Pursuant to CEQA, an environmental impact report must be prepared for every discretio ...

At PLF, we litigate for judicial acceptance of the idea that property owners should be allowed to reasonably use their property without undue interference from the government.  Many of our clients, such as Wendy Birnbaum, believe in this principle, but find themselves tangled in red tape when they actually exercise their property rights. Ms. Birnb ...

Tomorrow, I will be speaking at the annual LSI Regulatory Takings conference about the doctrine of unconstitutional conditions.  This doctrine holds that the government cannot condition the provision of a discretionary benefit (e.g., a permit, license, grant, contract, etc.) upon a requirement that a person give up a constitutionally protected rig ...

Today, Pacific Legal Foundation filed its brief in the Supreme Court in Fisher v. University of Texas. As you know, PLF has been heavily involved in Fisher for almost three years. We did a video on the case.  I authored these two articles on the case.  We appeared on NPR and wrote op-eds.  And, of … ...

The Oregonian‘s guest columnist “Portland Aristotle” has an excellent article about the wealth-destroying effects of occupational licensing. A few years ago, PLF helped open the road to economic opportunity in Oregon by defeating that state’s anti-competitive licensing laws for moving companies. … ...

Prof. Samuelson has a thorough response to my post about John Adams and individual liberty. While it’s true I’m not a great admirer of Adams (I’m much fonder of his son), my point was not biographical or historical, but philosophical: democracy is an instrumental good, one that is valuable only insofar as it protects the … ...

Yesterday, the EPA announced its intent to amend its Clean Water Act stormwater regulations governing runoff from forest roads and other silvicultural activities.  EPA’s action is the result of the Ninth Circuit’s decision in Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown, for which a petition for certiorari is pending in the United S ...