Articles

Testimony in Montana : the Competitor's Veto is unconstitutional

January 30, 2015 | By ANASTASIA BODEN

Today I testified to the Montana Legislature’s House Transportation Committee about the unconstitutionality of their Competitor’s Veto law—the same law we challenged in court yesterday.  The Committee is considering amending that law and eliminating the Competitor’s Veto for the taxi industry.  However, those amendments d ...

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President's weekly report — January 30, 2015

January 30, 2015 | By ROB RIVETT

Environment — Wetlands The government filed this opposition to our petition seeking Supreme Court review in Kent Recycling v. United States.  That’s the case where we are arguing that a landowner should have the right to challenge a wetlands jurisdictional determination first, without having to spend potentially hundreds of thousands ...

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City of Alexandria tries to deny client’s day in court

January 30, 2015 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Yesterday, we had our hearing on the City of Alexandria’s motion to dismiss in McLean v. City of Alexandria. In this case, we are challenging the constitutionality of a City ordinance that makes it illegal to advertise a car for sale while it is parked on a city street. Our client, Scott McLean, received a parking ticket two … ...

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Wrapping up National School Choice Week 2015

January 30, 2015 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

All this week we joined thousands of teachers, students, schools, and organizations in celebrating National School Choice Week.  This is the fourth consecutive year that PLF has celebrated National School Choice Week, and, I think, this was our best celebration yet.  In case you missed it, here’s a recap of all that we did to celebrate &# ...

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NSCW 2015 : The battle over charter schools in Washington

January 30, 2015 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

A Greek myth tells of a villain named Procrustes who invited travelers to spend the night on his iron bed. Obsessed with conformity, Procrustes would make sure his guests fit the bed by stretching out the short ones or amputating the excess of the tall ones. Theseus put an end to his cruelty by fitting Procrustes to … ...

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Texas Supreme Court grants review in important contracts case

January 30, 2015 | By WENCONG FA

Today the Texas Supreme Court announced it would accept review in Plains v. Torch, an important case addressing a fundamental question of contract interpretation: Should a dispute about the meaning of a contract be governed by the words of the contract or by vague notions of abstract justice? Both parties argue that this case should … ...

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Fighting for economic liberty in Montana

January 29, 2015 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

Most people define the American dream in terms of economic opportunity. Yet sadly, in many states, licensing laws deprive would-be entrepreneurs of their right to earn a living, not to protect the public, but to stifle competition for the benefit of existing companies. Take Tracie Pabst. Tracie has operated successful transportation companies in Ne ...

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NSCW 2015 — Awaiting an important school choice decision in Colorado

January 29, 2015 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Last August, PLF filed this brief in the Colorado Supreme Court in favor of Douglas County’s revolutionary school choice program.  The Supreme Court heard argument on the case back in December.  You can listen to the argument here.  We are now awaiting a decision from the Court. I do not use the “revolutionary” term lightly. & ...

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NSCW 2015 — Florida a national leader in school choice

January 29, 2015 | By MARK MILLER

Florida provides a variety of school choice opportunities to parents, and in return the teacher unions spend inordinate amounts of time and money trying to kill these efforts to help working families. What I’ve said before I will say again: teachers’ unions, like other unions, exist to protect the interests of their members: teachers. T ...