Articles

Originally published by the The Hill June 30, 2018. After a brief reprieve, California once again is entering a drought. Having just climbed out of the state’s worst drought in centuries, this news is a sober reminder that reform is urgently needed to avoid endless water wars. Thanks to population growth and climate change, the problem R ...

IN CONGRESS, JULY 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen United States of America: Sometimes it becomes necessary for a group of people to declare their independence from a government they used to be connected to. They have a right to do so under natural law, though they should respectfully lay out the reasons … ...

Today Americans celebrate the signing of the Declaration of Independence. What sometimes seems a fait accompli in retrospect was anything but at the time. Independence did not have to happen. In the years leading up to July 4, 1776, Thomas Jefferson and his cohorts gave England every opportunity to address colonist concerns satisfactorily. But by ...

Originally published by The Hill, July 4, 2018. Celebrating our nation’s independence in 2018 offers an opportunity to consider the path of our history — to take a look back and to take a look forward. Our first and perhaps greatest leader, George Washington, did the same shortly after he became president in 1789. The … ...

PLF client Rose Knick never expected to make constitutional history. If she had her way, she would live quietly, raising horses and other livestock on her 90-acre farm in rural Pennsylvania. But when the local government decided to open up her private property to the public and threaten her with fines if she resisted, Rose … ...

The struggle for liberty is old, yet it must be continually renewed—because the struggle is never-ending. As the world moves slowly, fitfully, and yet inexorably toward a state of increased liberty, we must always recall Ronald Reagan’s words: “Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.” Different generation ...

The news of an opening at the Supreme Court of the United States forces all Americans to re-acquaint themselves with the Latin term “stare decisis.” The term, which roughly translated means ‘let the decision stand,’ re-appears in the media each time the President finds himself with an opportunity to make an appointment to the Hi ...

As the President prepares to nominate a new Supreme Court justice, one of the major issues likely to turn on that choice is the fate of Chevron deference. According to that infamous doctrine, courts must defer to agency’s interpretations of the statutes they administer unless that interpretation is patently unreasonable. In practice, courts h ...

Chef Geoff Tracy is an entrepreneur, cookbook author, and owner of three successful restaurants in the Washington, DC, metropolitan area. In two of those restaurants—those located in Maryland and Washington, DC—Chef Geoff can freely tell customers about his various happy hour promotions. But at his Virginia location, such truthful advertising i ...