Property Rights

Cody Peterson is a third-generation farmer in eastern North Dakota. For decades, his family has been committed to growing food for other families. But recent actions by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service threaten Cody's ability to make a living from farming. The problem comes from the Service's new interpretation of decades-old easements the a ...

Last week, the House Natural Resources Committee included a provision in the budget reconciliation package allowing federal public land sales in Nevada and Utah. Yet the proposed provision has sparked pushback from some members of Congress and environmental activists. It shouldn't: The provision represents a vital step toward restoring Americans' a ...

A federal court in Michigan has ruled that the Corporate Transparency Act (CTA) violates the Fourth Amendment, blocking a government attempt to collect personal data from millions of small business owners. The decision in Small Business Association of Michigan v. Yellen restores a core constitutional principle: The government can't seize your priva ...

A lot of interesting developments. Thus, much like the Ninth Amendment, the inclusion of certain court orders, opinions, or oral arguments is not meant to deny or disparage the existence of others. There's just only so much space per scoop. Mo' cases, mo' problems The Court said it will hear USPS v. Konan, which was brought by a woman who says th ...

Johnston is a small Rhode Island town where Ralph Santoro's family has long worked. Ralph was not one of the lucky few who inherited generational wealth, but he did inherit his father's priceless, working-class wisdom. His father had immigrated from Italy after marrying his mother—a true first-generation American. Ralph's mother had been brought to ...

When property owners apply to the government for building permits, they're often required to pay impact fees: fees meant to cover the strain additional buildings have on public resources like roads, sewers, schools, and parks. There's nothing wrong with properly set impact fees. But some local governments set impact fees that are excessively hig ...

When you protect property, you protect privacy. That was the message Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys conveyed in one of eight amicus briefs filed last week in support of James Harper in his petition for a writ of certiorari to the United States Supreme Court in his case, Harper v. O'Donnell. Harper brought his case after discovering that he w ...

Several years ago, an author defended looting in an NPR interview by arguing, "It's just property. It's not actually hurting any people." That justification stayed with me. How many Americans have forgotten that private property is how human beings implement their freedom in the world? Liberty is not just the freedom to think but also to do – to ...

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 ...