Property Rights

The meaning of the word “villain” is ingrained in most of us from the first time we hear the phrase “Once upon a time.” And in storybooks, like Frank L. Baum’s The Wonderful Wizard of Oz, the line between hero and villain is clear.  Readers never once question that Dorothy is our heroine and the … ...

There comes a time in a politician’s campaign when the most he can muster is to throw candy into the crowd. President Biden has reached that time. The candy, in this case, is the daft proposal unveiled by the president during a speech this week to foist federal rent control on the country. Like most … ...

The California Coastal Commission (CCC) has earned itself a nasty reputation for overstepping the boundaries placed on it by both the state legislature and local county laws. And many California homeowners have lost their property rights as a result. Shear Development Company has experienced this abuse firsthand—so now they’re taking the Co ...

In a recent news broadcast, WDIV Local 4 and other NBC affiliates reported on the ripple-effects of the Supreme Court’s ruling last year in Sackett v. EPA. But the segment muddies the waters by distorting the true stakes, and the media’s overwrought narrative won’t wash. The piece opens with weatherman Bryan Schuerman intoning, &# ...

The Supreme Court’s unanimous decision in Sheetz v. County of El Dorado could change how local and state governments extract development impact fees from property owners in exchange for building permits. In the April ruling, the Court held that development fee schedules are subject to judicial scrutiny under the doctrine of unconstitutional ...

One year ago, the Supreme Court unanimously agreed to restore proper limits to the Environment Protection Agency’s (EPA) authority to broadly interpret and enforce the Clean Water Act (CWA). For decades, the EPA, along with the Army Corps of Engineers, had taken it upon themselves to expand the definition of “navigable waters” to ...

This series will focus on what “persons,” “houses,” “papers,” and “effects” mean, tackling each in turn, and examining how they stack up against the increasingly sophisticated ways that cities, bureaucrats, police officers, and even municipal code inspectors investigate Americans in the 21st century. ...

Cities across America are experiencing a surge in squatting – when people illegally enter and occupy a property they have no right to inhabit. But many in the corporate media, such as the Washington Post, WNYC (New York City’s public broadcaster), and Dave Weigel, have published stories diminishing the importance and ev ...

In 1981, scholar R.J. Smith argued private property rights were key to preserving natural resources and wildlife.  “The problems of environmental degradation, overexploitation of natural resources, and depletion of wildlife all derive from their existence as common property resources,” he wrote in “Resolving the Tragedy of the Co ...