The Docket: May 22, 2026
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.
PLF announces the Next Civil Rights Act; the Arizona Supreme Court delivers a landmark ruling reinforcing the separation of powers; and PLF’s Megan Jenkins and Josh Smith offer guidance for navigating the data center debate.
The Salt Lake Tribune: Utah can welcome data centers—without selling out its principles
In their latest in The Salt Lake Tribune, Utah natives and PLF colleagues Megan Jenkins and Josh Smith dive into the data center debates that have taken the country—and their local community—by storm.
“The guiding principle should be simple,” they explain. “Don’t punish data centers, but don’t privilege them either.”
Arizona Supreme Court issues a historic ruling reinforcing the separation of powers
Last week, the Arizona Supreme Court issued its opinion in Simms v. Arizona Racing Commission, holding that courts must independently review the factual findings of state agencies, rather than defer to them under the so-called substantial-evidence standard. The ruling is the first of its kind in the nation and has implications far beyond Arizona.
“Dozens of states apply similar deference doctrines in administrative proceedings, leaving individuals with little meaningful judicial recourse when agencies act against them,” PLF attorney Adi Dynar explains. “Arizona’s Supreme Court has reinforced the separation of powers by making clear that courts are not bystanders in agency adjudication; they are the final check on government power.”
PLF unveils ‘Next Civil Rights Act’ legislative package
On Tuesday, PLF announced the Next Civil Rights Act, a 10-bill legislative package designed to eliminate race-based preferences in federal programs and strengthen civil rights enforcement for every American.
“From the passage of the first Civil Rights Act in 1866, to the ratification of the Fourteenth Amendment, and through the groundbreaking Civil Rights Acts of the twentieth century, American lawmakers have made a promise that government-sponsored discrimination was over,” said PLF federal policy director Joe Luppino-Esposito. “Decades of race-based preferences and DEI mandates have broken that promise. This legislative package is about making equal treatment real.”
National Review: Time to end race and gender preferences in government contracts
Imagine losing a federal contract—despite submitting the lowest bid and the strongest proposal—because of the color of your skin or your sex. Most Americans would call that discrimination. The Constitution calls it unconstitutional. And yet, for decades, this is exactly what the federal government has been doing.
“As the country approaches its 250th anniversary,” PLF’s Maddie Salamone argues, “there is no better time to codify equal treatment by the government into federal law.”
