Articles

American Spectator : Eliminate Affordable Housing Mandates to Make Housing More Affordable

December 13, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

If you want to build housing on your property, can the government demand that you first give your land to someone else to live on? Or that you pay for someone else's house (on someone else's property) before you get a permit to build housing for yourself? You would think the answer would be a resounding, "Of course not!" But consider the case of Je ...

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American Habits : Four proven ways state legislatures can lead the charge on America’s housing crisis

December 09, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

President-elect Donald Trump made the housing crisis a focal point of his presidential campaign. He correctly diagnosed a national problem: housing costs must come down to improve the country's economy and its standard of living. But having made the right diagnosis, federal leaders, like President-elect Trump and his administration, also expect sta ...

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Daily Journal : Supreme Court Fails to Acknowledge Its Part in America’s Homelessness Problem

October 24, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

On any night, more than half a million Americans cannot afford or find a place to sleep other than outdoors or in an emergency shelter. In a recent case about this homelessness crisis called City of Grants Pass v. Johnson, all nine Justices of the Supreme Court had the opportunity to consider the Court's significant role in creating that homeless c ...

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Fox News : When private property is taken by squatters, all of society pays a price

May 03, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

Cities across America are experiencing a surge in squatting – when people illegally enter and occupy a property they have no right to inhabit. But many in the corporate media, such as the Washington Post, WNYC (New York City's public broadcaster), and Dave Weigel, have published stories diminishing the importance and even ex ...

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City Journal : Just Get Out of the Way

April 26, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

Unable to deny the obvious, President Biden acknowledged in his State of the Union address that housing prices have hit a crisis point for too many Americans. Yet, almost all his proposed solutions to the problem—most of which amount to throwing taxpayer money at it—will only make it worse. Buried in the pile of bad housing policy reforms is ...

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Fox News : Supreme Court can fix the homeless crisis that the government caused

April 26, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

On Monday, April 22, the Supreme Court will hear arguments in City of Grants Pass v. Johnson . The question before the justices is: did the Ninth Circuit correctly hold that the Eighth Amendment prevents cities from enforcing civil or criminal restrictions on the homeless sleeping or camping on public property? Underlying the specific legal questi ...

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Washington Examiner : Justice Thomas leaves the door open for future challenges to rent control

April 12, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

Rent control is a bad housing policy that won't go away. Unfortunately, this term, the U.S. Supreme Court refused to review not one, not two, but three cases that challenged New York City's 2019 iteration of the bad housing policy, euphemistically labeled "rent stabilization." But thanks to Justice Clarence Thomas, the proverbial third strike mi ...

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A guide to squatters’ rights

March 28, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

Everywhere we turn these days we see stories of individuals taking up residence in properties they don't own. It's called "squatting," but it's nothing more than trespassing.  This explainer clarifies why squatting is immoral and illegal, why it's growing, and how to stop it.  What is squatting? "Squatting" describes moving into a property w ...

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Fox News : The Supreme Court case that could help cities clean up homelessness

February 01, 2024 | By MARK MILLER

The plight of the homeless calls out to anyone with a heart. Drug and alcohol addiction, mental illness, and the outsized cost of housing have driven a sharp uptick in the number of homeless living in tents and makeshift camps in public places. The spiraling crisis – in all our big cities but particularly in the West – has led to cities an ...