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For nearly a century, federal law barred the president from firing members of the Federal Trade Commission unless they could be shown to have committed "inefficiency, neglect of duty, or malfeasance in office." The goal of this congressionally imposed restriction was to give agencies like the FTC some measure of independence from politics. But the ...

If you're a typical shopper, you just want to shop in peace—when you stroll through the local mall, you expertly weave, dodge, and avoid eye contact with the well-intentioned salespeople pitching their wares as you go about your business. But the state of California has another obstacle for ordinary shoppers and introverts at the mall: a self-sty ...

The Docket is PLF's weekly newsletter covering the cases, clients, and policy battles shaping the future of liberty in America. You can catch up on last week's Docket here and subscribe below to receive future editions in your inbox.   Highlighting Justice Clarence Thomas' concurrence in Pung v. Isabella County; launching a new figh ...

The Supreme Court has started releasing the blockbuster opinions everyone's been waiting for. This week brought major decisions on property rights, religious liberty, immigration, and the Second Amendment. Here's what stood out to me. The Pungs live to fight another day The Supreme Court handed down its decision in Pung v. Isabella County, Pacifi ...

Emily Tvrdy has given birth four times. Now, as she prepares for her fifth, she knows what type of birth experience she wants—and what type she wants to avoid. Three of her four children were born in a hospital. The first she describes as traumatic, involving complications, pain, and a long separation from her infant son. Medical decisions wer ...

In 2005, the Idaho Farm Bureau Federation received a troubling call from one of its members. A Fish and Game officer had crossed onto their private land—no warrant, no permission, no notice. Over the years, more ranchers, farmers and landowners came forward with additional, more troubling stories. To prevent ongoing abuse of property rights, Idah ...

When I wrote for The Star last December, I was in the middle of the fight of my professional life. The Kansas State Board of Nursing decided that giving speeches about dementia while my license briefly lapsed as I cared for my husband through cancer treatment constituted "unprofessional conduct." Its members wanted me to admit guilt and accept a pe ...

Yesterday, the Supreme Court delivered its decision in Pung v. Isabella County, ruling against the Pung family. In February, the Pungs asked the Court to affirm that when the government takes and sells a home to satisfy a tax debt, just compensation should be measured by the home's fair market value—not whatever price the government happens to ...

The House Oversight Committee recently announced an investigation into the District of Columbia's use of home equity theft, highlighting a major threat to property rights. Home equity theft is a shady government practice that allows governments to seize a person's property over a tax debt, sell it, and pocket all the proceeds—including the hom ...