Property Rights

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 … ...

Homelessness is the defining public health and safety crisis in the western United States. We see it in Phoenix, Seattle, Boise, Los Angeles, and seemingly all cities in between: makeshift camps, tents, feces, discarded drug needles, and the mentally ill living on the streets and in the public parks of our cities. To their credit, … ...

One of the biggest cases of the Supreme Court’s October term involves a fishing boat, in which the owner has thrown out a line to the court hoping to snag the Chevron Doctrine. To regulate the fishing industry, the federal government demands that fishing boats allow federal “observers” on board to watch how and which … ...

PLF clients Tom and Amy Villegas have reason to celebrate after the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) backed down from its outrageous claim that the couple violated the Clean Water Act (CWA). An oasis in Nebraska Tom and Amy Villegas love the outdoors. While the couple calls Colorado home, they have a deep connection with the … ...

An Arizona mother unjustly accused of child neglect has reason to celebrate, after a trial judge allowed the state’s Department of Child Safety to drop their charges against her.  In 2021, Pacific Legal Foundation client Sarra L* was unjustly accused of child neglect after she let her son play alone at a safe neighborhood park … ...

According to the Supreme Court, home equity theft — the practice of governments or investors taking more than they are owed when collecting delinquent taxes — is unconstitutional. Unfortunately, it seems California didn’t get the memo. On May 25, the Court ruled unanimously in Tyler vs. Hennepin County that when the government takes more ...

When our 3-month old son awoke one night, his little body was radiating with the heat of a high fever — more than 103 degrees. So we took him to the hospital. What followed was an aggressive investigation that coalesced into a bogus child abuse accusation and two social workers from the Department of Children … ...

In Real Estate Issues, Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys Brian Hodges and Sam Spiegelman published a thorough, peer reviewed article making the case for build-to-rent homes as a solution for housing shortages. Real Estate Issues is a notable trade publication published by The Counselors of Real Estate, “an international consortium of credent ...

Patricia Miller lost her childhood home in 2010 over only $808 in unpaid property taxes. The mortgage had been paid off many years before, when Patricia’s father, Devoe Poleeson, owned the small Phoenix home. But less than a thousand dollars of unpaid property taxes was all the government needed to sell the tax debt — … ...