Articles

You’d think that California would want to comply with laws that protect the environment. But that’s not always the case. The California Endangered Species Act (CESA) requires the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to conduct status reviews of species listed as threatened or endangered once every five years. The Department has fa ...

Happiness is a burger on a warm bun, a cold draft beer and freedom of speech Courts shouldn’t look the other way when federal agencies seize power Congress never gave them Common sense prevails in Regulatory Flexibility Act case California agency’s “sky-is-falling” argument unsupported by the facts On the road to the Suprem ...

Originally published by The Hill June 4, 2018. In the Constitution, the opening phrase “We the People” vests all legislative powers in Congress. The power to write the federal laws that govern the American people belongs to Congress. The most important protection of our liberty embedded in the Constitution — the separation of powers a ...

If a state illegally taxes you, and you successfully sue to recover the money, does the state have to refund the taxes? Oddly enough, the answer to this question may depend on whether the state’s illegal taxes violated federal law or state law. In McKesson Corp v. Div. of Alcohol, Bev. & Tobacco (1990), the … ...

Aside from today’s highly anticipated First Amendment case involving something about cakes, the Supreme Court also issued an important decision in Hughes v. United States. The Court accepted Hughes as a vehicle to clarify what the lower courts should do when the Supreme Court decides a case with no majority opinion. The Court had done … ...

Public employee unions and sympathetic legislatures in many states have combined to perpetuate union power. One way they do this is by getting government employers – like a school district – to pay union leaders to work for the union. They negotiate a contract that gives certain teachers “release time” – basically, excusing them f ...

Today, we submitted an amicus brief in the California court of appeal in San Diego Unified Port District v. California Coastal Commission. The case concerns the Port’s attempts to modify its land-use plan for Harbor Island, a popular tourist spot in San Diego Bay. The Commission denied the Port’s requested modification (which would fac ...

Legislatures relentlessly pushed for more power over the economy throughout the 20th century, and judges let it happen. … ...

In Washington state, property owners who want to challenge the constitutionality of a new land-use or critical area restriction must first try their case to the Growth Management Hearings Board—an administrative agency that lacks the authority to decide constitutional issues. Although this requirement was meant to streamline the ordinary types of ...