MAID v. State of Montana
Defending the “Montana Miracle” and the right to build on your property
With free representation by Pacific Legal Foundation, Clancy and David joined the case as intervenors to defend their property rights against MAID’s misguided efforts to thwart sound, market-based solutions to the state’s housing crisis.
Weiss v. Perez
Professor challenges university’s unlawful viewpoint discrimination
Dr. Elizabeth Weiss, a highly decorated, fully tenured professor of anthropology at San Jose State University (SJSU), specializes in osteology—the study of human skeletal remains. As part of her work, she has published and spoken about the Native American Graves Protection and Repatriation Act (NAGPRA) and similar laws, which require laboratories and museums to hand over certain Native American remains to the tribes for reburial. Prof. Weiss’ scholarship has for decades criticized these laws as stunting scientific research and has argued that such laws may even be unconstitutiona
Total Real Estate Group v. Strode
Real estate brokers fight “love letter” ban for the right to speak freely
At a time when home sales have become a cutthroat business, every bargaining chip matters—to buyers, sellers, and the real estate companies in between. Prospective buyers commonly use so-called “love letters” to move sellers’ hearts—and sales—in their direction.
Yim v. City of Seattle (II)
Seattle wages unconstitutional war on landlords
In a misguided effort to combat racial disparities in housing, the City of Seattle passed the “Fair Chance Housing Ordinance,” which forbids housing providers from considering applicants’ criminal histories, usually uncovered in a standard background check. PLF represents several small-scale housing providers who are denied their constitutionally guaranteed choice to decide who to allow on their private property. An artist by trade, Kelly Lyles earns a modest living as a small-scale landlord, renting out a second house she owns in Seattle. Kelly has enjoyed a mutually beneficial and respectful relationship with her tenants. But if they move out, new city laws give her little to no choice over the next occupants.
Skyworks Ltd. v. Centers for Disease Control; Chambless Enterprises, LLC v. Centers for Disease Control
Fighting the CDC’s national eviction ban to restore separation of powers
In September 2020, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) adopted an order that prohibited certain evictions for non-payment of rent. However, in its haste to enact and enforce a national eviction ban, the CDC overstepped its lawful authority by exercising legislative power reserved to Congress, and it did so at the expense of struggling landlords who often depend on rental income to make ends meet. PLF filed two lawsuits on behalf of landlords in Ohio and Louisiana. Skyworks vs. CDC ended in victory with the first judicial opinion setting aside the eviction moratorium for lack of statutory authority. Chambless v. CDC was favorably resolved after the U.S. Supreme Court agreed with our claims and ruled the CDC’s eviction ban unlawful.
El Papel v. City of Seattle
Fighting unlawful eviction bans masked as a pandemic response
In the wake of COVID-19, Washington State and Seattle joined a number of cities and states to enact emergency eviction bans that eliminated landlords’ ability to evict tenants who violate lease terms, such as by neglecting to pay their rent. Seattle added an ordinance that prohibits landlords from seeking full repayment for up to a year from the emergency’s end date. This means Mark Travers, who built and leases a couple of rental units in Seattle, has no legal way to deal with two tenants who stopped paying their rent in April and owe $14,000 in back rent. Represented by PLF free of charge, the Traverses’ business, El Papel, LLC, and other small-scale landlords are challenging these eviction bans that go far beyond helping those affected by the pandemic.
Navigable Waters Cases
Fighting government’s make-believe, illegal definition of navigable waters
The Clean Water Act (CWA) has a seemingly simple purpose: protect the navigable waters of the United States from pollution. The federal agencies charged with carrying out and enforcing the law, however, have expanded the definition of “navigable waters” several times since the Act went on the books in 1972. Represented by PLF free of charge, a number of land and business owners and trade associations filed federal lawsuits challenging the federal government’s claim to regulate broad swaths of land with no connection to navigable waters. Most importantly, success will give Americans confidence that they can carry out peaceful and productive activities on their land free from government overreach and abuse.
Minnesota Assoc. Builders and Contractors v. Minneapolis Public School District
Bulldozing unfair, illegal union-rigged construction scheme
With 75 buildings and 35,000 students, there’s plenty of construction work in the Minneapolis School District. But many hardworking Minnesotans never get a shot at a school project. In 2004, the district adopted a project labor agreement, or PLA, that favors politically powerful unions over nonunion contractors. This type of agreement forces firms bidding on government contracts to pay money to a union and hire workers from them to get the job. As a result, nonunion employees are punished for choosing not to join a union, taxpayer costs increase by millions, and the district doesn’t always get the most qualified and responsible low bidders. Matt Bergmann is an electrical contractor whose 110 nonunion employees are among those squeezed out of public school jobs. Matt’s taking the school district to federal court to upend the rigged bidding scheme and level the playing field for all Minnesota workers and taxpayers.
Freedom Foundation v. Washington Dept. of Ecology
State agency Scrooge violates Santa’s First Amendment rights
Each year around the holidays, Washington-based Freedom Foundation sends staff members to the lobbies of state agency buildings. These staffers—dressed as Santa—hand out leaflets that explain state employees’ right to opt out of union dues. Allowed by most agencies, the Washington Department of Ecology in 2017 instead prohibited the leafletting. Even worse is that the agency kicked Santa out of its lobby while allowing other organizations to engage in political expression there—including the union itself. Represented by Pacific Legal Foundation, Freedom Foundation is suing the Department of Ecology in federal court for violating the First Amendment.