Articles

According to the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, the answer is no. Last year, that court dismissed Virginia’s lawsuit challenging Obamacare, on the grounds that the state had no interest in the lawsuit above and beyond the interests of its citizens, and states aren’t allowed to sue just on behalf of their citizens. States can … ...

The National Law Journal has published my article about a growing problem in federal courts: the tendency of judges to dismiss lawsuits brought by business owners on the theory that they can’t possibly prove their cases anyway, given how biased the courts are against economic freedom. For decades now, federal courts have applied the notion & ...

My friend, Prof. Don Boudreaux, sent this letter to the editor of the Christian Science Monitor in response to my column about how Obamacare violates the Origination Clause. He suggests that since Congress passed the bill without knowing what it contained, it also violates the due process clause. “In what universe is due process of law R ...

Representative Raul Grijalva of Arizona is a prominent green politician; indeed, many environmental organizations promoted his (now unsuccessful) candidacy to replace Ken Salazar as Secretary of the Interior.  Representative Grijalva published earlier this week in Roll Call an oped entitled, “My Colleagues Want to Gut the Endangered Species ...

PLF attorneys filed public comments today urging the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to reconsider its proposal to list a distinct population segment (DPS) of wolverines in the United States as a threatened species.  We argue that the proposed rule, if adopted, would violate the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The Service’s conclusion that th ...

California’s Assembly Bill 823 has had a busy couple of weeks, culminating in a victory for property rights.  After cancelling two scheduled hearings in the Assembly Natural Resources Committee, the author amended the bill last week.  While the amendments were apparently aimed at reducing opposition to the bill, Pacific Legal Foundation ...

Environment — Endangered Species – Wolverine We filed our comments on the listing of the Wolverine as a “distinct population segment” of a subspecies.  The problem here is that the Endangered Species Act does not countenance the listing of such a thing.  The government may list species, subspecies, and even “distinct ...

People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) has petitioned the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) to include Lolita – a killer whale and the biggest attraction at Miami’s Seaquarium for more than 40 years – as a member of the Southern Resident killer whale population under the Endangered Species Act.  This population is al ...

Last week, The Economist‘s cover story argued against the continued use of race-based affirmative action in the United States.  The lead article is well worth your time and can be found here.  The article discusses the upcoming decision in Fisher as well as the recent grant in Schuette — two cases that PLF has been … ...