Separation of Powers

There’s some great news out of Oklahoma to announce. Oklahoma officials have agreed to (and the Court has signed off on) a stipulation to stay enforcement of Oklahoma’s American Indian Arts and Crafts Sales Act while PLF’s challenge to the law is pending. If you’ll recall, in November PLF challenged that law on behalf of a ...

New York laws and regulations deem family daycare providers (individuals who operate daycare businesses in their homes) to be “public employees” and requires a union to be the daycare providers’ exclusive representative for bargaining with (e.g., lobbying) the state over daycare regulations and policies. The workers who are “ ...

For over 30 years, Peggy Fontenot has sold her beadwork and photographs at American Indian art shows across the country. But this year, at the behest of politically connected tribes, Oklahoma passed a law that prohibits anyone who is not a member of a federally recognized tribe from marketing their art as “American Indian-made.” This & ...

For more than 30 years, Peggy Fontenot has sold her beadwork and photographs at American Indian art shows across the country. But this year, at the behest of politically connected tribes, Oklahoma passed a law that prohibits anyone who is not a member of a federally recognized tribe from marketing their art as “American Indian-made.” & ...

Today, PLF sent a warning to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that unless the agency adopts its proposed rule to reclassify the manatee within 60-days, PLF will sue on behalf of Save Crystal River, Inc., to compel downlisting the status of the species from endangered to threatened. It is disappointing, but not surprising that … ...

Today the Supreme Court granted certiorari in three cases that raise the same issue: whether the National Labor Relations Act, which protects workers’ rights to engage in “concerted activities” for their mutual benefit, trumps the Federal Arbitration Act’s protection of the freedom of contract that allows employers and emplo ...

Earlier this week the Supreme Court decided not to hear the Arlen and Cindy Foster’s case against the U.S. Department of Agriculture, over the Department’s illegal determination that their farm contains a federally protected wetland. The petition asked the Supreme Court to decide whether judges should interpret federal law, or whether ...

In 2014, the federal government designated thousands of acres in New Mexico as “critical habitat” for the jaguar. The designation is absurd, because as cat-lovers know, jaguars prefer the wet, tropical climates of Central and South America forests, to the dry, arid wilderness of the Southwest. The designation should also trouble liberty ...

This morning, we received disappointing news that the Supreme Court denied our cert petition in Bennie v. Munn. PLF attorneys represent Bob Bennie, a financial analyst and Tea Party leader in Nebraska. Bennie was targeted for retaliation by state financial regulators because he expressed political viewpoints that they didn’t like. The issue ...