Articles

The government stole from Lynette Johnson, a Guyanese immigrant in New Jersey, when it foreclosed on her property, sold it, and pocketed the difference between her property's selling price ($101,000) and her property tax debt (about $24,000). Finally, last week—after four years of Pacific Legal Foundation fighting for Lynette in court, and more ...

The Constitution's Bill of Rights tells us what the government can't do—for example, it can't stop us from expressing ourselves. But when originally ratified in 1791, the Bill of Rights applied only to the federal government, not the states. James Madison, the main author of the Bill of Rights, wanted at least some of the amendments to apply to ...

Yesterday a federal judge rejected a joint motion to vacate a $105,000 fine paid by Pacific Legal Foundation client Townstone Financial in a settlement, even though the government admits the fine never should have been paid. Vacating the settlement would open a "Pandora's Box," the judge said, calling the government's reversal on the case "breatht ...

In a wide-ranging conversation—touching on tariffs, COVID-19, protectionism, and American individualism—Anastasia Boden, senior attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, spoke with Carol Roth, entrepreneur and bestselling author of You Will Own Nothing and The War on Small Business. Here are a few highlights from the conversation. (You can scroll d ...

The U.S. Department of Education's Office for Civil Rights has opened a Title VI investigation into Thomas Jefferson High School's admissions policy—a 2020 policy that parents, teachers, and alumni challenged in court as discriminatory in a case litigated for three years by Pacific Legal Foundation. Last year the U.S. Supreme Court declined to ...

Board game companies Stonemaier Games, XYZ Game Labs, Spielcraft Games, Rookie Mage, and Tinkerhouse Games are suing the Trump administration over its tariffs, which President Donald Trump set at 145% for most products manufactured in China. Nearly 70% of board games are made in China, making the China tariff an "existential" threat to the American ...

Did a California school district violate the First Amendment when it punished a first grader for writing "Black Lives Mater sic ... any life" on a drawing and giving it to a friend? That question was before the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals in oral arguments this week. Pacific Legal Foundation attorney Caleb Trotter argued the case of B.B. v. C ...

A shocking eminent domain scandal is unfolding in Johnston, Rhode Island: Last week, the Town secretly took possession of a family's 31-acre property, only notifying the owners afterward in a letter demanding they "remove all vehicles and other personal belongings from the property immediately" or they'd be served with a no trespass notice. "I w ...

The COVID-19 pandemic happened "gradually and then suddenly," to steal from Hemingway. In early 2020, the U.S. Commerce Secretary optimistically predicted that the coronavirus outbreak in China would "help to accelerate the return of jobs to North America." New York City's health commissioner encouraged New Yorkers "to go about their everyday lives ...