Notice & Comment : Regulation by Adjudication Gives Agencies Maximum Flexibility in Wielding Their Powers
An e-cigarette manufacturer follows an arduous set of standards to get its market applications approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The company completes the process as outlined, but the FDA still denies its applications. Why? The FDA changed the rules on a dime after the fact, without public input, without following the rulemaking p ...
Agri-Pulse : USDA’s court system is unconstitutional
We Americans love to have our day in court. We go to court to challenge speeding tickets. We use the accountability of personal injury lawsuits to help ensure that businesses are acting responsibly. We sue the government when we're denied essential rights. We love to watch justice prevail in movies like "My Cousin Vinny" or "A Few Good Men." Even S ...
Experienced architect targeted by Nevada’s State Board of Architecture for allegedly practicing without a license
Last week, Pacific Legal Foundation filed a reply brief with the Nevada Supreme Court on behalf of Jeffrey Hagen—an experienced architect based in Sacramento, California. After alleging that he practiced without a license in Nevada, the Nevada State Board of Architecture fined Hagen $29,000, stripped him of his constitutional right to a jury t ...
American Heroes : Her family built a safe product. The government destroyed their business.
What happens when the federal government decides it doesn't like your product—even when it's safe, compliant, and trusted by families for years? On this episode of American Heroes, host Kathy Hoekstra sits down with Jamie Leach, a registered nurse and cofounder of Leachco, Inc. The Oklahoma-based business, run by Jamie's family, spent nearly f ...
Federal court hears case representing historic mining company stripped of Seventh Amendment rights
In 2024, a historic mining company found itself before an agency tribunal. The company represented itself, filing petitions with the Federal Mine Safety and Health Review Commission to deny and vacate the unconstitutional judgment. Instead of an independent courtroom with an independent judge and a neutral jury, the Secretary of Labor forced Americ ...
The government regulated rideshare drivers and entrepreneurs, violating principles of federalism
In recent months, state and national governments have acted beyond their constitutional authority by imposing restrictive regulations on rideshare drivers and entrepreneurs. Despite clear constitutional boundaries, governments have unconstitutionally denied out-of-state drivers the ability to drive for rideshare services and required business owner ...
Federal court hears case challenging financial surveillance regulation
From a young age, Celia Flowers dreamed of starting her own business, and in 1993, her dreams came true. After buying a title agency, she has successfully scaled her business, which now serves more than 80 counties across Texas. But this week she found herself in a federal courtroom, challenging a federal law that threatens her dreams. Invasive ...
Federalism 240 years after the Constitutional Convention : Federalist 32
Does the federal government have the power to regulate an animal species that lives exclusively in one state? According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, it does. Somehow, what is otherwise Congress's limited power to regulate interstate commerce can be applied to anything that could potentially move across state lines and potentially impact c ...
The Articles of Confederation were defective. The Constitution solved the problem and better embodied the Declaration of Independence.
Within months of the Declaration of Independence, the new states created a shell of a government, shaped by their experience under British tyranny. But the Articles of Confederation were weak and defective: The primary problem was a powerless federal authority, a government that was more like a union of independent nations than a single, unified co ...