“The Right to Earn A Living” in New Mexico and Colorado

September 08, 2010

Author: Timothy Sandefur I hope PLF members will join me in October when I’ll be speaking about the right to earn a living—on October 6 in Albuquerque (sponsored by the Rio Grande Foundation) and October 7 in Denver (sponsored by the Independence Institute). Remember, if you’re a member of PLF, please make sure to introduc ...

“Comes A Horseman”

September 08, 2010

Author: Timothy Sandefur The latest issue of National Review (Sept. 20, 2010) includes my feature article, “Comes A Horseman,” about the pre-New Deal Supreme Court. Excerpt: …it’s clear that, however dramatic, the era’s constitutional transformation was not unforeseen. Nor was it simply the pragmatic resolution o ...

Listomania: PLF continues to identify listed species in need of status review

September 08, 2010

Author: Daniel Himebaugh The Endangered Species Act is all about making lists.  Plants and animals are added to, and subtracted from, a list of protected species based on what the best available scientific and commercial data reveals about their current status and chances of future survival.  A listed species receives certain legal enti ...

Mass. man uses student loan money to file bogus Endangered Species Act lawsuit

September 07, 2010

Author: Brandon Middleton Two months ago, I blogged about Strahan v. Holmes, the First Circuit case in which Richard Max Strahan is seeking to prevent Daniel Holmes from pursuing his livelihood as a commercial lobster fisherman.  This story began in 2006, when Holmes' fishing gear (which was known to be "whale safe" and complied ...

Dr. James Enstrom and UCLA

September 07, 2010

Author: Joshua Thompson As you may recall, as a result of PLF's lawsuit, the University of California President recently nominated five new members to the Scientific Review Panel (SRP), an independent scientific body that advises the California Air Resources Board.  Previous members of the SRP had served significantly longer than th ...

Retrospective on spotted owl

September 07, 2010

Author: Reed Hopper Ever wonder how those massive logging restrictions in the Pacific Northwest panned out for the endangered spotted owl?  Political AP has an interesting article that answers that question:  After 20 Years of Protection, Owls are Declining but Forests Remain.  "Nothing we do seems to work for the spotted owl ...

Perfect storm ascends on Washington as climate change litigation rises

September 03, 2010

Author:  Luke A. Wake As Hurricane Earl ascends upon the east coast, a perfect storm of litigation is ascending upon the Supreme Court. The storm began five years ago when Hurricane Katrina slammed into New Orleans, flooding the city and causing tremendous damage to many people's property. In the aftermath of that storm, environment ...

Recognizing racism

September 03, 2010

Author: Joshua Thompson I came upon this case out of the Seventh Circuit today, where a nursing home worker was prevented from treating certain patients.  The patients, it seems, didn’t want to be treated by her because she was black.  The case deals with Title VII and private discrimination, and while PLF has done a couple … ...

My interview with the Cascade Policy Institute

September 03, 2010

Author: Timothy Sandefur Our friends at the Cascade Policy Institute have posted a brief interview with me about the right to earn a living and PLF's Economic Liberty Project: … ...

The government: forcing you to pay more for gasoline is good for competition

September 03, 2010

Author: Timothy Sandefur The Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals today upheld a state law that bars gas stations from charging low prices. What’s wrong with low prices? Why, they discourage competition, donchyano. If that seems bizarre to you, welcome to the world of antitrust law, a twilight zone where nothing means everything and the exact &# ...