Following PLF’s Discrimination Suit, Pritzker Signs Bill Ending Illinois’ Race-Exclusive Scholarship
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently signed legislation rewriting the state's scholarship rules—and abruptly ending a decades-old race-exclusive program. The change will moot a lawsuit led by a student member of the American Alliance for Equal Rights and represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation at no cost. The law, House Bill 3065, which took ...
PLF returns to CA Supreme Court in showdown over local coastal permits
Pacific Legal Foundation is back at the California Supreme Court to represent veteran builder Tim Shea in a high-stakes property rights case that could finally clarify how California's coastal permitting system works. On Dec. 3, PLF attorney Jeremy Talcott delivered oral arguments challenging the California Coastal Commission's attempt to override ...
California’s new law ends discrimination against craft distillery
When Théron Regnier launched The Obscure Distillery in Los Angeles during the COVID-19 pandemic, he built something special. The craft distillery now attracts over 30,000 visitors annually, including many New Yorkers who appreciate the distillery’s unique connection to their state. But he soon found he was unable to ship to New York because of the...
The UK is on track to restrict jury trials—and the U.S. could be next.
This week, British Deputy Prime Minister and Lord Chancellor (a position comparable to the U.S. Attorney General) David Lammy addressed the House of Commons, arguing that legal reform is desperately needed to clear up the backlog of criminal cases. The Crown Court faces an unprecedented number of backlogged cases, which could exceed 100,000 by 2028 ...
The Washington Post : Even Trump’s EPA can’t get it quite right on this silly wetlands law
When the Supreme Court ruled in Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency in 2023, which I argued on behalf of Michael and Chantell Sackett, it finally brought clarity and common sense to a part of environmental law that had long baffled courts, agencies and landowners. The Clean Water Act, the court held, regulates "waters of the United States," ...
PLF returns to the Supreme Court to defend Michigan family’s property rights
I have big news: Pacific Legal Foundation is going back to the U.S. Supreme Court to defend a Michigan family against an outrageous injustice. We've joined as co-counsel in the case Pung v. Isabella County, which will be argued at the Court this term. (You can hear directly from the attorneys litigating the case if you join our online discussion on ...
National Review : Congress Should Stop Passing the Buck to the Bureaucracy
Lawmakers pass laws full of lofty goals — "promote the public interest" or "ensure fairness" — and leave the tough choices to regulators who weren't on anyone's ballot. It's tidy politics: take credit for ideals, outsource the trade-offs, blame the bureaucracy when the sausage tastes funny. But if we want an accountable government, Congress mus ...
National Review : Speaker Johnson Proves the Necessity of Reviving the Nondelegation Doctrine
During a press conference earlier this month, House Speaker Mike Johnson was asked about Justice Neil Gorsuch's concerns, raised during Supreme Court oral arguments over the legality of the president's tariffs, that Congress had violated the long-dormant "nondelegation doctrine" by delegating too much of its tariff power to the president. Johnso ...
When fines become weapons : A history of excessive fines
A fine not even a baron could pay King John was cruel, of that there was no doubt. But when he turned on his closest friend and ally, the Marcher lord William de Braose, his brutality knew no bounds. William had won great favor with the King by playing an integral role in helping him secure the throne in 1199. After Richard the Lionheart died, ...