MAID v. State of Montana
Defending the “Montana Miracle” and the right to build on your property
Montana, despite its vast land mass, faces the same housing shortage plaguing the rest of the nation. In 2023, state legislators passed a suite of laws, signed by Gov. Greg Gianforte, to boost housing production and affordability in residential areas. The legislation was recommended by the governor's housing task force and received bipartisan suppo ...
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 laborator ...
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. These conversations give less-privileged buyers a chance at their dream home, ...
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 g ...
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 CDC adopted an order that prohibited certain evictions for non-payment of rent. The agency said that the eviction ban was necessary to curb the spread of COVID-19, but tenants could invoke the ban whether they suffered from COVID-related hardships or not. Tenants simply had to provide their landlords a CDC-approved declaratio ...
El Papel v. City of Seattle
Fighting unlawful eviction bans masked as a pandemic response
Mark Travers thought being a landlord would be a good way to earn some extra income and create affordable living space in Seattle's very limited housing market. Mark, an architect by trade, built a couple of rental units that quickly filled up with tenants. Like most small landlords, Mark respected his obligations spelled out in lease agreements ...
Navigable Waters Cases
Fighting government’s make-believe, illegal definition of navigable waters
The Clean Water Act 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 changed the definition of navigable waters several times since the Act went on the books in 1972. Each successive definition of "navigable waters ...
Minnesota Assoc. Builders and Contractors v. Minneapolis Public School District
Bulldozing unfair, illegal union-rigged construction scheme
Matt Bergmann is proud of the progress his family-owned company, Laketown Electric, has made in recent years. Over the past seven years, the Minneapolis-area electrical contractor grew from 12 employees to 110, opened a second location, and offers training and profit-sharing bonuses, making it one of the fastest-growing companies in the Twin Cities ...
Freedom Foundation v. Washington Dept. of Ecology
State agency Scrooge violates Santa’s First Amendment rights
Every year, Washington-based Freedom Foundation sends a staff member, dressed as Santa Claus, to hand out leaflets informing state employees of their right to opt out of union fees used to support political causes. Most state agencies have allowed this. In 2017, however, the Department of Ecology put its foot down and told the Foundation it woul ...