Articles

CEQA victory in California Supreme Court

March 02, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

This morning the California Supreme Court issued its decision in Berkeley Hillside Preservation v. City of Berkeley, announcing that projects which are categorically exempt from review under the California Environmental Quality Act are exempt even if they might have negative environmental impacts. The Court’s decision is consistent with Pacif ...

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Supreme Court of Alabama rejects teachers' union challenge to school choice

March 03, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Supreme Court of Alabama, in a lengthy and largely unanimous opinion, upheld the state’s school choice reform program. The Alabama Accountability Act created a system of tax credits to aid parents who transfer their kids from failing public schools to better public or private schools. The teachers’ union promptly challenged the law, ...

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Green sturgeon critical habitat challenge : oral argument this week

March 03, 2015 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

On Thursday, March 5, 2015, at 9 a.m., I’ll be arguing at the 9th Circuit in support of our challenge under the Endangered Species Act to the critical habitat designation for a marine species known as the green sturgeon.  The critical habitat designation encompasses virtually the entire West Coast of the United States, making any developme ...

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PLF goes to court tomorrow to challenge illegal tax on homeowners

March 04, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Tomorrow morning I will be arguing in Contra Costa Superior Court against an illegal tax levied against new homeowners by the City of San Ramon, California. San Ramon used California’s Mello-Roos Act, the purpose of which is to fund new public facilities and new public services, to impose a parcel tax of more than $500 … ...

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A federal judge rebukes the EPA

March 04, 2015 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

Incompetence or corruption. According to federal judge Royce Lamberth, only those two explanations remain for the EPA’s misconduct over a conservative group’s request for information under the Freedom of Information Act. … ...

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Ninth Circuit to decide whether federal wildlife regulators must honor their agreements

March 04, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Tomorrow morning is Ninth Circuit day at PLF. Immediately following Ted Hadzi-Antich’s oral argument in the Green Sturgeon critical habitat listing case, the same panel will hear another very important Endangered Species Act case. Bear Valley Mutual Water Co. v. Jewell, in which Pacific Legal Foundation filed this amicus brief, addresses whet ...

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Speaking at Florida Coastal School of Law today

March 05, 2015 | By MARK MILLER

I’m in Jacksonville today, speaking at noon with the Florida Coastal School of Law‘s Federalist Society chapter about Pacific Legal Foundation‘s work on behalf of liberty throughout the nation. Contrary to what you may have heard elsewhere recently, this event, like all other Federalist Society events, is not a secret! To the c ...

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Tim the Lawyer talks about yesterday's Obamacare argument with A&G

March 05, 2015 | By TIMOTHY SANDEFUR

This morning I spoke with Armstrong & Getty about yesterday’s Supreme Court arguments in the Obamacare “exchanges” case. If you missed it, you can listen here. … ...

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Fighting to protect San Juan property owners from land grab

March 06, 2015 | By BRIAN HODGES

Yesterday, PLF attorneys filed an amicus brief in support of San Juan County’s shoreline property owners in the case, Common Sense Alliance v. Growth Management Hearings Board. At issue is San Juan County’s update to its critical areas ordinance, which, in part, conditions approval of any new development of a shoreline property upon the ...