McKinney v. Vilsack
Jarrod McKinney began his farming journey about eight years ago with help from a federal loan for beginning farmers. Like many farmers in the Texarkana region, Jarrod raises cattle, tending today to 60 pairs. Like many farmers facing economic hardship in the pandemic’s aftermath, Jarrod was hopeful when he heard about a farm loan forgiveness ...
Morton v. Vilsack
Matthew and Joshua Morton are brothers and full-time farmers in Kell, Illinois. Like many Southern Illinois farmers, they grow soybeans, wheat, and corn on their farm. And like many farmers across the country, they have federal farm loans with an outstanding balance. … ...
The Hill: Can Kentucky’s governor ignore the law?
On June 10, the Kentucky Supreme Court will hear oral argument in a pair of cases addressing whether Gov. Andy Beshear can ignore the laws of the commonwealth. These cases will be watched by other states considering reforms to emergency powers. In litigation last year, Gov. Beshear correctly argued that Kentucky’s emergency-powers laws “ ...
The unintended consequences of CDC’s national eviction moratorium
Newton’s third law of physics is that for every action in nature, there is an equal and opposite reaction. That rule also seems to apply in the business world when it comes to regulations like an eviction moratorium. That is to say that regulation always has unintended consequences—some predictable, others less obvious. And that rule ̷ ...
As the world opens back up, emergency powers reform still matters
As the country continues to re-open after more than a year of living under COVID emergency orders, it may be tempting to ignore further calls to restrict executive overreach. But we must be vigilant in upholding our system of checks and balances before the next national crisis comes our way. Many will chalk up the … ...
Texans challenge government’s beachfront land grab
Galveston, Texas; May 24, 2021: Beachfront property owners filed a lawsuit today challenging a General Land Office order that unlawfully turns their private property into a public beach for two years. After Hurricane Laura and Tropical Storm Beta altered the beachfront in the Galveston area last year, GLO Commissioner George P. Bush issued an order ...
Sheffield v. George P. Bush, GLO Commissioner
Charles Sheffield is a long-time Texan and surfer who bought beachfront homes in Surfside Beach as a retirement investment. Merry Porter is a native Texan and resident of Surfside Beach who owns and uses a small beachfront home for rental income. In March 2021, without prior notice or compensation, the Texas General Land Office moved the public bea ...
The Hill: To solve DC’s housing crisis, we need more than planning — we need to rethink zoning
With the D.C. Council set to vote on its massive update to the comprehensive plan in the coming months, it’s high time that we ask the hard question whether we are using the right tools to address equity and affordability in housing. The problem isn’t that zoning doesn’t work. It’s that zoning works all too … ...
Carolina Journal: Why we’re still fighting Gov. Cooper
Crystal Waldron and Club 519 were shuttered for almost a year due to economic favoritism. She suffered through six months of discriminatory treatment — watching former customers have drinks at her direct competitors — with no end in sight and bills piling up. Left without another option, Mrs. Waldron, co-owner of Club 519, initially sued ̷ ...