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Randy and Kimberley Pavlock built their small family home along the Lake Michigan shoreline in Porter, Indiana, with their own hands. The Pavlocks have owned the property for five generations, and love being “beach people.” Their home and private beach on Lake Michigan are the center of their family life, as they often hold fish … ...

Behind the Iron Curtain, Western-loving youths embraced American pop culture and fashion with feverish enthusiasm. Lacking ready access to these goods on the open market, they improvised by painting flashy colors over their state-issued ties, listening to black-market music, such as jazz and later rock, and using heat rollers to style their hair li ...

The idea that high government officials must be accountable to the people should be uncontroversial. Democratic accountability is a cardinal principle in a constitutional republic. Requiring government actors to be answerable to the people protects the public from arbitrary and tyrannical governance. In practice, this means significant government d ...

Anthony (Tony) Barilla is a highly accomplished accordionist who wants to busk—that is, perform in public for tips—on the streets of Houston, Texas. A city law, however, prohibits busking activities everywhere except Houston’s very small Theater District. There, artists may accept tips for their performances, but only after completing an ...

Houston; January 15, 2020: A Houston musician filed a federal lawsuit against the city today, arguing that an ordinance prohibiting musicians from busking — that is, playing in public for tips — is unconstitutional.  Tony Barilla is an accomplished accordionist. He plays in a three-piece accordion cover band and has written andâ ...

Hollister Ranch, California; January 16, 2020: Hollister Ranch owners filed a federal lawsuit today, challenging unconstitutional provisions of a new law that gives state officials the right to search private coastal property without permission or warrant, punishes owners who speak or act to protect constitutional rights, and ultimately threatens  ...

Hollister Ranch, California, is widely known for its 150 years as a working cattle ranch and for its biologically significant coastal habitat spread across miles of shoreline downcoast of California’s Point Conception. Over the years, the ranch has carefully restricted development and activity on its 14,400 acres in order to protect the exist ...

On January 22, 2020, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in Espinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue. Espinoza, like PLF’s similar lawsuit Armstrong v. Kadas could potentially end policies like Montana’s that discriminate against religion. ~~~ Few people would argue that parents shouldn’t be able to decide how and where to ...

There are many cases before the Supreme Court that will set important precedents in PLF’s battleground areas of freedom of speech, property rights, equality before the law, economic liberty, and separation of powers. The decisions to many of these cases have the potential to strengthen Americans’ individual rights, or deliver more power ...

Joshua rejoined the Pacific Legal Foundation’s Sacramento office in 2019 after completing a summer clerkship in 2018. He practices within several PLF’s litigation areas including economic liberty and property rights. Growing up in the deep south, Joshua was raised with an appreciation of individualism and a skepticism toward overreachin ...