Articles

By Mark Shirley The restaurant business is hard work. Long hours, narrow profit margins, fierce competition — given the challenges, it's not surprising that 60 percent of new restaurants fail in their first year. I was prepared for all those challenges and more when I launched my barbeque business, Ole Time Smokehouse, in a food truck in Fa ...

Could a Supreme Court opinion about the arcane question of hospital reimbursement rates deal a critical blow to the unconstitutional nature of the federal regulatory state? The narrow issue in American Hospital Association v. Becerra is about the proper interpretation of the rules that the Department of Health and Human Services must follow when ...

Imagine you've decided to venture into the world of homeownership for the first time and find yourself locked in a tight bidding war—an all-too-common scenario in today's overheated housing market. If only there were some way you could differentiate your offer and stand out for special consideration in the seller's eyes…. It turns out there' ...

2021 was filled with some major wins for individual liberty. As we close the year, we want to celebrate our top 10 victories. #10 Challenging a California law that puts gender preference above equality before the law In June, in a unanimous opinion, the Ninth Circuit held that a shareholder of a California company has standing to sue over ...

Rep. Pramila Jayapal (D-Wash.) this month introduced the Stop Corporate Capture Act, which, among other things, would codify a legal doctrine known as "Chevron deference" that requires judges to defer to federal regulators' interpretation of the laws they are charged with carrying out. Chevron deference is a misguided doctrine that several members ...

"All nature is doing her best each moment to make us well," Henry David Thoreau once wrote. This is a sentiment with which Duke Bradford, founder and owner of Arkansas Valley Adventures, tends to agree. Since 1998, Duke has offered his patrons the opportunity to escape their busy city lives, disconnect from their smartphones, and experience the ...

Should racial preferences in university admissions be legal? The U.S. Supreme Court has an opportunity to revisit that hotly debated question if it decides to take up Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (about racial preferences at a private college) and/or Students for Fair Admissions v. University of North Carolina (preferences at a public un ...

Mike Fahner, president and owner of Cedar Point Nursery, passed away last month, less than six months after the Supreme Court of the United States ruled in his favor in Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid. I was on my way to D.C. to give a talk on Mike's case when I heard. The last time I spoke with Mike, he was in Southern California. Always the entr ...

Massachusetts is one of a dozen states that still practice home equity theft: When a homeowner owes a tax debt, no matter how small, the local government can force a foreclosure and keep the full selling price of the home—leaving the homeowner with nothing. A new Pacific Legal Foundation report, Violating the Spirit of America: Home Equity The ...