Jan. 9: Supreme Court will hear PLF's Sackett property rights case

Washington, DC; January 5, 2012: This coming Monday, January 9, 2012, the United States Supreme Court will hear oral argument in the Pacific Legal Foundation property rights case of Sackett v. United States Environmental Protection Agency. In this high-profile litigation, PLF seeks to establish that property owners have a right to appeal to court when EPA effectively seizes control of their propertyby declaring it “wetlands” under the Clean Water Act.
Oral argument in Sackett is scheduled for 10:00 a.m. at the United States Supreme Court on Monday, January 9. Arguing on behalf of PLF clients Mike and Chantell Sackett will be Damien M. Schiff, a PLF Senior Staff Attorney.

Victims of EPA overreach seek the right to their day in court

PLF clients Mike and Chantell Sackett, of Priest Lake in the Idaho Panhandle, bought a small parcel in 2005 with the intent to build a three-bedroom family home. The lot is in a residential area, where neighbors have built their own houses. The Sacketts obtained a county permit to build and started laying gravel. But then they were blindsided by EPA, which came in and claimed the property is “wetlands” — and ordered them to return it to the agency’s liking, on pain of astronomical fines.
The Sacketts wanted to contest the claim that their land is “wetlands” — but the Ninth Circuit ruled that they would first have to go through a years-long “wetlands” permit process, which could cost 12 times the value of their land!
Represented by attorneys with PLF, the Sacketts are asking the Supreme Court: When property owners are hit by an EPA wetlands “compliance order,” do they have a right to meaningful judicial review — or is EPA effectively above the law?
About Pacific Legal Foundation
Donor-supported PLF (www.pacificlegal.org) is the leading watchdog organization that litigates, without charge, for limited government, property rights, individual rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations, in courts nationwide.