Currently a Senior Attorney at Pacific Legal Foundation, Damien joined PLF in 2005. His practice has focused on federal and state environmental and land-use issues. Damien was counsel of record in Sackett v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, a groundbreaking decision in which the U.S. Supreme Court upheld the right of landowners to challenge Clean Water Act compliance orders issued by the Environmental Protection Agency.
In addition to the Clean Water Act, Damien’s practice includes direct litigation and friend-of-the-court briefs in cases arising under the federal and California Endangered Species Acts, as well as other environmental laws. He has appeared on a variety of television and radio programs, and has been quoted in The Economist, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal, among other publications.
Damien obtained his law degree magna cum laude from the University of San Diego School of Law, and his undergraduate degree magna cum laude from Georgetown University. While at USD, Damien was a research assistant for Professor Bernard Siegan, a leading constitutional theorist and advocate for property rights and economic liberty. Immediately prior to joining PLF, Damien clerked for Judge (and former PLF attorney) Victor Wolski of the United States Court of Federal Claims. Damien credits the mentoring and examples of Professor Siegan and Judge Wolski for his decision to pursue a career in liberty-based public interest litigation.
Damien lives in Sacramento with his wife, two young sons, and a cat named Lily. He is a card-carrying member of the American Philatelic Society.
Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
Cedar Point Nursery and Fowler Packing Company are California growers that produce fruit for millions of Americans. Collectively, they employ around 3,000 Californians. In 2015, the United Farm Workers (UFW) viewed the workers as ripe for the picking and sent union organizers to storm the workplaces during harvest time to encourage them to unionize ...
Iten v. County of Los Angeles
Howard Iten is a retired auto mechanic who greatly depends on rental income from his one commercial property in Lawndale, California. His current tenant, however, is an auto repair franchisee who has refused to pay much of his rent during the COVID-19 pandemic, even though his business has been fully open the entire time. He owes Howard thousands o ...
Christensen v. California Judicial Council
Eviction is a critical tool for landlords to manage their property by removing tenants who refuse to pay rent or create nuisances and safety hazards. The process allows landlords to remove tenants who deliberately withhold rent or damage property, so that they can aid tenants experiencing hardship and offer housing to good renters—a particularl ...
Abad, et al. v. Bonham, et al. and Williams, et al. v. Ross, et al.
Swordfish is a very popular seafood and one of the most abundant types of fish on the West Coast. It is also a primary source of income and way of life for many California families. But recent legal changes at the state and federal levels threaten to wipe out longtime family-owned businesses as well as the entire domestic swordfish supply. The new ...
United States v. LaPant
Jack LaPant thought that he had properly navigated all the necessary regulations under the federal Clean Water Act when he plowed his northern California farmland in 2011 to grow wheat. Multiple agencies said he did not need a permit; but in 2016, government bureaucrats sued Jack for not obtaining a permit, even though the Clean Water Act doesnR ...
State of California v. Bernhardt
In 2019, the Department of Interior changed the way that it applies the Endangered Species Act by rescinding an illegal rule. The changes offered additional protections for property owners—like Ken Klemm, who runs a 4,000-acre ranch in Kansas. The changes also incentivized property owners to assist in the recovery of species by loosening restrict ...
On March 22, the Supreme Court of the United States will hear arguments in a case that will either strengthen or erode Americans' property rights threatened by (oftentimes partisan) politics. In Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid, the High Court will decide whether the government may give permission to select private groups to violate other people's ...
A fundamental aspect of private property is that the owner can choose whom to let onto the property and whom to exclude as a trespasser. Next Monday, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear a case concerning the intersection of this right with a longstanding California agricultural labor regulation. In 1975, the California Legislature enacted the ...
In a letter written late in his life to Kentucky legislator William Barry, James Madison warned that a "popular Government without popular information, or the means of acquiring it, is but a Prologue to a Farce or a Tragedy; or, perhaps both." In the context of the sprawling and often unaccountable modern administrative state these words ...
Anyone lucky enough to sail off the coast of California or take a sightseeing boat out until the land disappears into a canvas of blue will tell you about the beauty of the ocean. Our oceans—especially off the California coast—contain some of the most beautiful sights and amazing marine life you can imagine. Not surprisingly, ...
Late last month, the California legislature passed and Governor Newsom signed into law Assembly Bill 3088. Among other things, the new statute imposes several limitations on the right of landlords to evict tenants. Touted by its supporters as a reasonable compromise measure, AB 3088 does not impose as many burdens on landlords as some local ...
This article was originally published by The Daily Journal on April 10, 2019. It is coauthored by Paul Beard who is an environmental and land-use attorney who co-leads Alston & Bird's Environmental Appellate Litigation Team and its Coastal Land Use Team. Should government agencies have the power to issue multi-million-dollar fines against hom ...
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