This week, Pacific Legal Foundation made history outside the courtroom with the naming of Steven D. Anderson — our next President and CEO. Steven is well versed in constitutional law and he’s an ardent defender of property rights from a stellar career at the Institute for Justice where he is currently Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer.
He officially assumes his new post at PLF on September 1, but he takes the helm at PLF at a momentous time in our 43-year history. Already this year, PLF has notched our eighth and ninth victories before the Supreme Court of the United States, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Company, and Kent Recycling Services v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.
The Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Hawkes was huge, so huge in fact that Casey Sullivan, a senior writer and blogger at FindLaw, just listed the Hawkes ruling as one of The 10 Most Important Supreme Court Decisions of This Term.
This October, I will argue our next big challenge before the High Court — Murr v. State of Wisconsin — a unconstitutional takings case of significance to property owners everywhere. No one knows the abuse property owners are subjected to in this country better than Steven, who is a veteran property rights litigator and former director of IJ’s Castle Coalition, which fights eminent domain abuses.
PLF is riding an incredible wave of success, and now with the addition of Steven D. Anderson, we’re poised for even bigger accomplishments under his leadership.