More on the Frivolous Libel Suit Against Carla Main and Richard Epstein
by Timothy Sandefur Jacob Sullum at Reason magazine has a brief post here on the libel suit filed by millionaire developer H. Walker Royall against Carla Main, the author of the excellent book Bulldozed (available from Amazon, B&N, and from the publisher, Encounter books). Everyone should read Bulldozed, as it is an excellent book on … ...
McNamees Can Keep Amenities Pending Appeal
The McNamees received good news today. In the face of strong opposition by the Coastal Commission (read: Peter Douglas), PLF won a stay of the Commission's cease-and-desist order pending final determination of the McNamees' appeal. The cease-and-desist would have required the McNamees to immediately remove the amenities and re ...
Is there a better way for endangered species than the Endangered Species Act?
The AP reports in today's Salt Lake Tribune that "documentation of an 'impressive' number of steps being taken to save the sage grouse from extinction may be enough to keep the bird off the U.S. list of protected species despite significant loss of its habitat to wildfires across much of the West in recent years, … ...
Commentary on the ESA regs
Andrew Wetzler from the NRDC Switchboard blog has several observations on the new regs. Wetzler criticizes the administration's position that the ESA cannot be used to regulate greenhouse gas emissions on a "harm to listed species" theory. Wetzler contends that, although a more precise causal chain may be necessary ...
Rolling Stone on proposed Section 7 regs
Add Rolling Stone to the list of publications that are critical of the proposed adopted Section 7 regulations but at the same time offer no real analysis. It is a sad pattern: grab everyone's attention with empty rhetoric towards the president (in this case, Rolling Stone contends that Bush is "screwing America"), continue the rhetori ...
Sacramento-San Joaquin delta: litigation abounds
Last week we noted the latest lawsuit aimed at limiting the beneficial use of Sacramento-San Joaquin delta water. Since then there have been several developments. Articles in the Sacramento Bee and at the Environmental Defense Fund's blog, On the Water Front, stress that urgent action is needed to protect the delta smelt. Both analyses le ...
L.A. Times Story on McNamee Case
The Los Angeles Times's Susannah Rosenblatt has a story in today's paper about the McNamee's fight against the Commission, entitled "Orange County couple wonder: Whose beach is it, anyway?" The title really does get to the heart of the matter. In the story, a Sierra Club representative succinctly sta ...
Missouri Should Put A Stop to “Drive-By Blight”
by Timothy Sandefur This week, the Pacific Legal Foundation joined forces with the Show-Me Institute and the Missouri Ombudsman for Property Rights to argue that the Missouri Supreme Court should reject the use of so-called “windshield surveys” to decide when to take people’s property through eminent domain. “Windshield surv ...
Millionaire Texas Developer Tries to Bulldoze Free Speech
by Timothy Sandefur Y'all remember the Freeport, Texas, eminent domain case? It was the subject of Carla Main's excellent book Bulldozed, which I reviewed here. It's a case in which the City of Freeport decided to condemn a family-owned business called Western Seafood, and give the land to a private developer to construct a shopping &# ...