Court lets surf school’s First Amendment challenge ride
Helina Beck has been trying to teach surf lessons on California's public beaches for years. On Tuesday, a federal court said her fight can continue, denying California's motion to dismiss her case and handing her a meaningful early victory in a fight over who gets to teach on shorelines that belong to all Californians. The ruling, issued Februar ...
The Hill : Congress must reclaim authority over public lands
For decades, the executive branch has unilaterally withdrawn vast tracts of federal land from productive use through a mechanism known as a public land order. For instance, the Biden administration in 2023 signed Public Land Order 7917, which withdrew more than 225,000 acres of land in northern Minnesota from mineral development. According to ex ...
New year, new SCOTUS opinions
The Supreme Court has issued its first handful (or scoop, if you will) of opinions. And it heard oral arguments in one of the most closely watched cases of the term. But first, the bad news. On Monday, the Court rejected six PLF petitions for review: Hierholzer (challenging racial preferences in federal contracting), Lincinio (asking the Court t ...
Following PLF’s Discrimination Suit, Pritzker Signs Bill Ending Illinois’ Race-Exclusive Scholarship
Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker recently signed legislation rewriting the state's scholarship rules—and abruptly ending a decades-old race-exclusive program. The change will moot a lawsuit led by a student member of the American Alliance for Equal Rights and represented by the Pacific Legal Foundation at no cost. The law, House Bill 3065, which took ...
PLF’s Supreme Court Show : Home equity theft is back at the Supreme Court
Last Monday the Supreme Court held its "long conference," which is exactly what it sounds like: a longer-than-usual meeting in which justices review cert petitions that have piled up over the summer. Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys gathered for our new Supreme Court livestream, "PLF's Supreme Court Show," in which attorneys discuss oral argument ...
What’s in store for the upcoming Supreme Court term?
From high-stakes cases on free speech, property rights, and the Second Amendment to pivotal questions about warrantless entries and tariffs, the Supreme Court's 2025–26 term is already shaping up to be one of the most consequential in years. su_youtube url="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aXpG3r85VAE" Join Pacific Legal Foundation—alongsi ...
Constitution Day 2025 — Let the experiment continue
To be an American means to be both scientist and subject in the grandest political experiment in human history. The American experiment set out to solve a timeless riddle: how do we empower people to govern us without abandoning our individual rights? The American founders' answer was an experiment that had never been tried before: a written consti ...
How legislators can reform the administrative state in the states
The federal administrative state rightfully receives much attention from elected officials and policymakers. So should the state administrative state. State constitutions have unique features that the U.S. Constitution does not: They provide more robust protections for the separation of powers. State legislators should use these protections to d ...
Law.com : When Civil Rights Law Becomes a Weapon
Aaron Steed and Barry Sturner built their companies from the ground up. Their reward? Facing millions of dollars in fines despite no evidence of wrongdoing. Their cases illustrate how bureaucratic abuse is wrecking small businesses—and how urgently reform is needed. Aaron Steed runs Meathead Movers, a California moving company with a ...