From Austin to Pung: Defining the Excessive Fines Clause in the modern era
Drawing on centuries of warnings, the Framers included the Excessive Fines Clause in the Bill of Rights to protect individuals from unrestrained governments wielding monetary penalties that are wildly disproportionate to the offense committed. The ink on the Bill of Rights has been dry for over 200 years and yet, unlike free speech, due process, ...
Danny Morales
Danny Morales is a Litigation Fellow at Pacific Legal Foundation, where he works to defend and uphold the rights guaranteed to every individual by the Constitution.
American Heroes: Her family built a safe product. The government destroyed their business.
What happens when the federal government decides it doesn't like your product—even when it's safe, compliant, and trusted by families for years? On this episode of American Heroes, host Kathy Hoekstra sits down with Jamie Leach, a registered nurse and cofounder of Leachco, Inc. The Oklahoma-based business, run by Jamie's family, spent nearly f ...
Jeffrey Hagen v. Nevada State Board of Architecture
Jeffrey Hagen, owner and founder of JAHA Architecture, has worked as an architect for over 20 years. He’s developed a strong client base and has a sterling record. Based in Sacramento, California, Hagen provides high-quality construction services for commercial, residential, and design projects. When one of Hagen’s longtime California clients was considering a property in […]
What Joe Rogan’s hemp conversation reveals about Washington picking winners
On a recent episode of The Joe Rogan Experience, Sen. Rand Paul surprised listeners (and the host) by explaining why some marijuana businesses have sided with the alcohol and pharmaceutical industries in lobbying Congress to crack down on hemp products. The reason isn't public safety. It's competition. Hemp and marijuana are variants of the s ...
At Stake: Michigan family seeks justice after courts back illegal foreclosure profiteering
A tax assessor treating social media with more legal reverence than a judge’s ruling sounds unthinkable of Michigan. Yet, that’s exactly what happened to the Pung family of Michigan. They lost their home, their equity, and their rights over a tax bill that was improperly imposed. Their fight for justice is now a constitutional property […]
Britta De Groot
Born in Nebraska, and raised in the High Plains and Rocky Mountain West by a food animal veterinarian and an agricultural journalist, Britta De Groot grew up steeped in an agrarian culture, where work and virtue prevail, and where the rights of the farmers and ranchers who steward the land and feed the world must be held inviolate for the good of all.
New year, new SCOTUS opinions
The Supreme Court has issued its first handful (or scoop, if you will) of opinions. And it heard oral arguments in one of the most closely watched cases of the term. But first, the bad news. On Monday, the Court rejected six PLF petitions for review: Hierholzer (challenging racial preferences in federal contracting), Lincinio (asking the Court t ...
Alaska breweries win First Amendment challenge
When Jessie Janes opened Alaska's first hard kombucha brewery, he imagined more than just a tasting room. He envisioned a community space where Alaskans and tourists alike could gather for live entertainment, games, conversation, and locally made drinks. Jessie opened Zip Kombucha in the heart of Anchorage after 12 years in the U.S. Army, a proj ...
Zayna Resley
Zayna Resley is a Coalitions manager at Pacific Legal Foundation, where she works to create partnerships and leverage relationships to support PLF’s legal and policy work.