I supported PLF for years. Then I experienced injustice firsthand.
I’m a farmer in California. As you may have read on PLF’s blog, I recently fought an overzealous state agency and won after it tried to invoke California’s anti-SLAPP statute. The victory was a win for the First Amendment and all future plaintiffs who might have lawsuits against the government.
I wanted to write to you from a different perspective—not as someone involved in a legal fight, but as a longtime Pacific Legal Foundation supporter, donor, fundraiser, and advocate.
My wife, Laura, and I have supported PLF for many years through our personal philanthropy, fundraising, and advocacy. We have done so because we believe deeply in our nation’s founding documents and in the principle that the power of government comes from “We the People”—not the other way around.
History teaches us that, as governments grow, power naturally tends to accumulate. Left unchecked, that power can eventually become overbearing and threaten the liberties of the very people government is supposed to serve. Our Founding Fathers understood this danger. That is why they created a Constitution that limits government power and protects the rights and liberties of the individual.
Yet, 250 years after America’s founding, we still find ourselves having to defend those fundamental principles.
Pacific Legal Foundation is at the tip of the spear in that fight. PLF defends the Constitution and, just as importantly, gives ordinary Americans a fighting chance when they are forced to stand against the enormous power and resources of government.
For all the years Laura and I supported PLF, we never imagined that we would one day be involved in our own lawsuit against the government.
That changed in 2024, when our local air district, the Yolo-Solano Air Quality Management District, brought enforcement actions against me and my businesses. I believed those actions were wrong and that I should question the District’s enforcement practices.
I found myself facing a decision familiar to far too many Americans: settle, remain quiet, and move on—or take a stand and challenge what I believed was government overreach.
I chose to take the stand.
And this experience has hardened my resolve.
When an individual faces a government agency with taxpayer-funded attorneys, investigators, experts, and virtually unlimited institutional resources, the scales are rarely equal. For many people, surrender is not an admission that the government is right—it is simply the only option they can afford.
That is why organizations like Pacific Legal Foundation matter.
PLF helps level that playing field. It stands with people who otherwise might never have the resources to challenge government overreach. And every time PLF successfully defends one individual’s constitutional rights, the significance reaches far beyond that single case. It reinforces protections that belong to all of us.
So, from the perspective of a longtime supporter who unexpectedly found himself in a legal battle with the government, I want to say something very simple: Your support of PLF matters.
It matters to the farmer, the small-business owner, the property owner, and the ordinary citizen who suddenly finds himself standing alone against the power of government. It matters to people you may never meet.
Supporting PLF is more than supporting an organization. It is an investment in the constitutional principles that protect every American.
During our nation’s 250th anniversary, we should remember that liberty does not preserve itself. Each generation has an obligation to defend it.
Laura and I remain proud supporters of Pacific Legal Foundation, and after our experience, our commitment to its mission is stronger than ever.
Our call to action is that you will join us in continuing to support PLF and its work to keep our government what our Founders intended it to be:
Of the people, by the people, and for the people.
