Articles

Issues & Insights : Virginia High School Racial Discrimination Case Deserves Supreme Court Hearing, Too

December 07, 2023 | By KYLE GRIESINGER

Wai Wah Chin is the founding president of the Chinese American Citizens Alliance Greater New York and an adjunct fellow of the Manhattan Institute. She is a PLF client. An Ivy League name generally gets attention. That certainly happened worldwide with the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in June of Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard ̷ ...

Articles

PLF and the history of unconstitutional conditions

December 07, 2023 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

“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 … ...

Articles

Food truck freedom is a winning situation for everyone, including opposing restaurants

December 06, 2023 | By KYLE SWEETLAND

Brick-and-mortar restaurants complain about being harmed by food trucks because of their mobility and cost advantages. In response, local government officials often capitulate to pressure from restaurants and aggressively regulate food trucks. But that’s a mistake that ultimately costs everyone—including brick-and-mortar restaurants. A rese ...

Articles

Daily Journal : Bump stocks, machine guns, and the rule of lenity

December 04, 2023 | By GLENN ROPER

The U.S. Supreme Court recently agreed to hear the case of Garland v. Cargill, addressing whether a “bump stock” qualifies as a machine gun and is therefore banned by federal law. Gun rights and gun control advocates will surely use the case to argue about the legality and wisdom of gun restrictions, but Cargill presents … ...

Articles

Property rights in Jamestown : Bowling and starving in the New World

November 30, 2023 | By JAMES BURLING

A few miles from Williamsburg, Virginia, there is a wonderful museum dedicated to the Jamestown Colony. Along the banks of the James River, the museum boasts a re-creation of the stockades, living and work quarters, a few early colony ships, and all those things that make up a colony of settlers in a brand New … ...

Articles

The Center Square : In public contracting, fixing discrimination with more discrimination isn’t the answer

November 29, 2023 | By ERIN WILCOX

Since the Supreme Court put an end to college affirmative action programs last summer, many have been wondering what’s next. Employment? Military academies? Public contracting? All three, it turns out. But nothing highlights the absolute failures of racial preferences more than a new lawsuit in Houston challenging the city’s nearly 40-y ...

Articles

The Founders hated Old World justice. Agency adjudication brings it back.

November 28, 2023 | By BRITTANY HUNTER

Sitting on the stone-cold floor and staring out of the bars of his cell in the Tower of London, Thomas Cromwell awaited his execution. Cromwell had faithfully served King Henry VIII for over a decade and had earned an earldom for helping the King with his infamous marital life. And yet, here he sat with … ...

Articles

Protecting 1st Amendment rights also protects economic freedom and prosperity

November 15, 2023 | By BRITTANY HUNTER

The right to free expression and the right to earn a living go hand in hand. Entrepreneurship allows creatives to reject the stereotype of the starving artist by turning their artistic talent into a financially viable career. So when the government restricts the right of entrepreneurs to freely express themselves through art, it also restricts  ...

Articles

The Detroit News : Drone ban flies in the face of entrepreneurship and rights

November 10, 2023 | By ANDREW QUINIO

Mike Yoder, founder of Drone Deer Recovery Inc., is an entrepreneur. He saw a problem and came up with a innovative solution. Yoder founded his business in October 2022 to help hunters locate their downed game using advanced unmanned aerial vehicles (drones). Wounded deer and other game run off a significant distance after a hunt, … ...