Issues

Lawmakers across the country are proposing reparations to black Americans for slavery and America's history of racial discrimination. Proposals have included direct cash payments, grants, formal apologies from the government, and government programs with race-based eligibility. Because certain reparations proposals would inevitably advantage and ...

"This wolf comes as a wolf." Almost 40 years ago, Justice Antonin Scalia warned of the rise of a "fourth branch" of government: an unelected, unaccountable bureaucracy wielding power once reserved for the president. He was the lone dissenter in Morrison v. Olson, a 1988 Supreme Court case that upheld the creation of "independent counsels." The ...

On the evening of July 8, as the last item in a grueling seven-hour meeting, the Laguna Beach City Council voted to grant a coastal development permit (CDP) to Pacific Legal Foundation clients Steve and Karen Reinecke—a hard-won victory that allows the Reineckes to finally build an accessory dwelling unit (ADU) on their property. ADUs are seco ...

The right to a jury trial is one of the core tenets of our United States legal system. Its significance to the Founding Fathers was such that King George's denial of jury trials was included as a grievance in the Declaration of Independence and served as an impetus for revolution. Later, the Constitution's Framers carefully safeguarded this right i ...

Annie Snider, writing for Politico Pro's Morning Energy newsletter, profiled the launch of our new Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) practice group yesterday: The small but mighty property rights group Pacific Legal Foundation that has scored a half dozen environmental wins at the Supreme Court over the past two decades is gearing up to ...

At Pacific Legal Foundation, we believe people are the ultimate resource. Our Environment and Natural Resources (ENR) practice roots itself in the conviction that when human creativity is unleashed through liberty, it solves problems and expands the world's potential. The future isn't built on fear or control—it's built on freedom and innovation. ...

President Trump's Make America Beautiful Again Commission reflects many of the goals we pursue in PLF's Environment and Natural Resources practice group: Americans should be free to use and care for our lands and resources in ways that promote prosperity and human flourishing. The plan for this Commission gets quite a bit right. It recognizes that ...

The causes of our housing crisis didn't just happen by accident — they were built on purpose. In the first installment of this series, we saw how misguided government policies have made decent housing unaffordable and unattainable for too many Americans. But to fully understand how we got here, we have to go back to the beginning — to the first ...

The City of St. Louis is seizing ownership of the downtown Railway Exchange Building away from its current private owners. The iconic building still evokes nostalgic holiday memories of its once-grand Famous-Barr flagship store's Christmas decorations. The store was reminiscent of A Christmas Story, where Ralphie was mesmerized by the Higbee's depa ...