Sabey parents reading to children
Joshua Sabey, et al. v. Butterfield et al.

Parents defend custodial rights and children’s security from lawless search and seizure

Alarmed by her three-month-old son's 103-degree temperature and at the family pediatrician's urging, graduate student Sarah Perkins brought baby Cal to a hospital emergency room just a few miles from their home in Waltham, Massachusetts. Sarah's husband Josh Sabey, a documentary filmmaker, stayed home with the couple's toddler, Clarence.   Doctors ...

Serene Virginia farm nestled amidst rolling hills and lush green fields
Medeiros v. Virginia Department of Wildlife Resources

Hunters’ ‘right to retrieve’ tramples property owners’ right to exclude trespassers

Jim Medeiros and his family run their own business, White Oak Meadows, on land they bought in 2012 in Dinwiddie County, Virginia. Located outside of Richmond, the family cultivates environmentally responsible forest and farm products, including beef and poultry raised solely on grasses and native vegetation. Ranching can be a tough-enough indust ...

Relaxing massage experience with a cozy massage table
Vondra v. City of Billings

Local government wields unannounced, warrantless search power over private businesses and home practitioners

Short stints in a salon and a chiropractor's office are all it took for Theresa Vondra to discover her true passion: helping people achieve total body wellness through massage therapy. She graduated from massage therapy school in 2006 and spent several years working for others before starting her own practice in Billings, Montana, where she was ...

Impressive US Department of Education building stands tall
Hanke and Yoo v. Secretary Cardona

Educrats can’t ignore oversight board members appointed by the previous administration

In the final months of the previous administration, the president appointed several people to serve on the National Board for Education Sciences (NBES)—a board that advises officials within the agency on research and funding priorities. But the U.S. Department of Education refuses to deliver the appointees' signed commissions, which are proof of ...

Trindys, a restaurant and bar in Georgetown, Kentucky
Goodwood Brewing Company, LLC v. Beshear

Kentucky restaurants challenging Governor Beshear’s never-ending emergency powers

Since the pandemic began a year ago, Kentucky Governor Andy Beshear has used his emergency powers to unilaterally enact COVID-19-related policies. In February, the legislature overwhelmingly voted to rein in his authority, passing three bills to limit the governor's use of pandemic-related emergency orders. Gov. Beshear immediately filed suit, clai ...

Colorful fishing boats lined up at the harbor, ready to set sail,
Burke v. Raimondo, et al.

Governments’ misguided battle threatens California fishermen and their way of life.

Swordfish is a very popular seafood and one of the most abundant types of fish on the West Coast. It is also a significant source of income and way of life for many California families. But federal legal changes threatened to wipe out longtime family-owned businesses, as well as the entire domestic swordfish supply. The new rule supposedly aimed to ...

Property Rights
Peter Stavrianoudakis, et al., v. United States Department of Fish & Wildlife and California Department of Fish & Wildlife

Falconry regulations run afoul of the Bill of Rights

Peter Stavrianoudakis is a longtime licensed falconer in California who just wants to do what people have been doing for thousands of years—raise and train falcons. But state and federal regulations have become so restrictive, he and fellow falconers around the country are left to choose between their falcons or their constitutional rights. Pacif ...

Scenic view of Bainbridge Island captures the essence of natural beauty
Preserve Responsible Shoreline Management (PRSM) v. City of Bainbridge Island; Olympic Stewardship Foundation (OSF) v. Growth Management Hearings Board

Coastal property rights run aground in Washington State

Coastal counties in Washington State passed "critical areas" ordinances requiring all shoreline property owners to dedicate a "buffer" zone and a strip of their beach property to the public as a mandatory condition on any new development. The counties assert this purported power under the state's Shoreline Management Act, in which Washington's legi ...