Property Rights

In 2023, rural Iowa landowner Dan Ward found himself at odds with the Army Corps of Engineers over a construction project deemed to be in violation of the Clean Water Act. Nearing retirement, Dan plans to spend the next chapter of his life on his property in southern Iowa. His first step was building a … ...

Chris and Jessica Pilling live in downtown Healdsburg, California, where they play an active role in their community. The couple owns and runs Bike Healdsburg, a business that offers bike tours of the city’s downtown breweries and restaurants, as well as lush, surrounding vineyards. They are also the proud parents of three beautiful children. ...

Similarly barred from suing the state under the Ninth Circuit’s interpretation of the sovereign immunity doctrine, Alison Cole-Kelly’s recently filed petition asks the court to grant the Gerlach petition as well as her own to resolve the sovereign immunity question once and for all. It is high time the Supreme Court does so. … ...

Pacific Legal Foundation’s 2023 Supreme Court victory in Tyler v. Hennepin County changed lives—and is now being recognized for advancing freedom and human progress in America.   For years, local governments across the country manipulated tax forfeiture laws to steal from vulnerable Americans—most of them ill, elderly, jobless, immigra ...

Two Pacific Legal Foundation clients have reason to celebrate this week as the Nebraska  Supreme Court ruled that Kevin Fair and Sandra Nieveen must be compensated for the equity the government took from them via home equity theft. This victory comes more than a year after Pacific Legal Foundation secured a unanimous victory at the … ...

Nearly 40 years ago, Congress enacted the Food Security Act of 1985, a comprehensive bill about farming. Included in this bill were wetland conservation provisions that govern how farmers must treat wetlands on their property. Despite the name of the bill, these provisions—colloquially known as “Swampbuster”—threaten food security b ...

In the 2023 case Tyler v. Hennepin County, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in favor of Pacific Legal Foundation client Geraldine Tyler and declared home equity theft unconstitutional. But what happens to other past victims of home equity theft—should they be compensated? The win in the Tyler case automatically applied retroactively to others who fou ...

Good news for property rights, individual liberty, and the sport of falconry: The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals says falconers’ lawsuit against a California regulation can proceed. Five years ago, master falconer Peter Stavrianoudakis and several others filed a lawsuit challenging the regulation, which requires falconers to sign an agreement ...

Imagine lush, rolling hills and green pine trees beneath a clear, blue sky, with a wide river running through it. You can see animals grazing as you stroll, and the best part of this magnificent sanctuary is it’s yours. Having been in your family for generations, this land is more than just a scenic backdrop; … ...