Articles

“Your money or your life!” The armed bandit’s classic demand offers no good options—handing over your wallet in this circumstance would never be a voluntary act, and laws treat both the threat and the theft as criminal acts. But what if the bandit wears an Uncle Sam mask? What if the government itself makes demands … ...

On May 25, the Supreme Court ruled home equity theft unconstitutional in its unanimous Tyler v. Hennepin County decision. The case, argued by my colleague Christina Martin, challenged Hennepin County, Minnesota’s confiscation of Geraldine Tyler’s former home as payment for approximately $15,000 in back taxes, costs, interests, and penal ...

When elderly grandmother Geraldine Tyler failed to pay her property tax debt on her Minneapolis condo, Hennepin County took absolute title to the property, extinguishing all of Ms. Tyler’s interest, including any leftover proceeds after the taxes were paid. While the County was entitled to recover the back taxes, how could it justify greedily ...

On Wednesday, April 26, Pacific Legal Foundation senior attorney Christina Martin will argue Tyler v. Hennepin County at the Supreme Court. At issue is whether local governments can take absolute title to a person’s home for tax debts, even when the home is worth more than the debt, interest, and costs. The case arose when … ...

The Washington Department of Ecology allows public employee union representatives to communicate with workers in the building’s public lobby but enacted a new policy that bans the Freedom Foundation, right-to-work advocates who also want to communicate with workers in the lobby about their First Amendment rights related to union membe ...

Elections end, but T-shirts can live forever. Until last week, Texas law prohibited voters from wearing an Obama or Reagan T-shirt in polling places, even when neither past president was on a present ballot. In fact, the law prohibited voters from wearing anything that an election worker deemed “electioneering” for or against any candid ...

The federal Civil Rights Act of 1871 authorizes Americans to sue in federal court to vindicate the government’s violation of their civil rights. Congress guaranteed the federal forum out of concern that state courts could not entirely be trusted to protect constitutional rights. For this reason, civil rights plaintiffs generally may sue direc ...

According to recent surveys, free speech is losing favor among college students. While supporting free expression in general terms, students prefer to carve out exceptions to censor speech that offends or is controversial or leaves some listeners feeling pained or troubled. Where did these young adults develop such discomfort with free speech, a tr ...

On Monday, the United States Supreme Court announced that courts must hear our case Pakdel v. City and County of San Francisco, which challenges a San Francisco ordinance that forces land owners to provide lifetime leases to tenants. In the Court’s opinion, they removed barriers to bringing property rights cases in federal court. In 2009, ...