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Weekly litigation update — September 29, 2018

September 29, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

PLF attorney gives congressional testimony on ESA reform This week, PLF attorney Jonathan Wood testified before the House Natural Resource Committee, urging Congress to improve the Endangered Species Act to reduce unnecessary conflict and provide better incentives to restore habitat and recover species. Based on Jonathan’s testimony, Congress ...

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Weekly litigation report — July 7, 2018

July 07, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

17 states urge the Supreme Court to grant PLF case and overrule Chevron deference  On Thursday, Texas—joined by 16 other states—filed an amicus brief supporting our petition in California Sea Urchin Commission v. Combs. The states’ brief explains that “the time has come to reconsider Chevron deference, and this case provides an app ...

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17 states : The time has come to reconsider Chevron deference and this is the case to do it with

July 06, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

As the President prepares to nominate a new Supreme Court justice, one of the major issues likely to turn on that choice is the fate of Chevron deference. According to that infamous doctrine, courts must defer to agency’s interpretations of the statutes they administer unless that interpretation is patently unreasonable. In practice, courts h ...

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A victory for freedom of contract

May 21, 2018 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

In the federal statute heavyweight championship bout between the 1925 Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and the New Deal’s 1935 National Labor Relations Act (NLRA), the Supreme Court today declared a winner: The Federal Arbitration Act by a knockout! … ...

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Bureaucratic overreach and the separation of powers

February 22, 2017 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

Can federal agencies make up whatever policies they like unless Congress tells them not to? PLF answered an emphatic “no” in an amicus brief filed today to support a petition to the Supreme Court. In National Restaurant Assocation v. Department of Labor, courts allowed the Department to expand its power beyond limits set by Congress. & ...

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Water Transfer Rule upheld

January 19, 2017 | By DAMIEN SCHIFF

Yesterday, the Second Circuit Court of Appeals rejected an environmentalist challenge to a 2008 EPA rule exempting water transfers from Clean Water Act permitting requirements.* In Catskill Mountains Chapter of Trout Unlimited v. EPA, the court held that EPA’s so-called Water Transfer Rule—which exempts the transfer of water from one n ...

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Should unelected, unaccountable bureaucrats have free rein to regulate whatever they please?

September 26, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

PLF argues “no,” in an amicus brief supporting four states, industry groups, and an Indian tribe in their challenge to the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) unlawful fracking regulation. It purports to regulate all fracking on federal lands based on the potential impacts of fracking to underground drinking water sources, despite t ...

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Does congressional silence mean more freedom or more bureaucracy?

September 13, 2016 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

Judges often defer to the government’s interpretations of its own power. PLF fights this trend because it upsets the balance of separated powers and threatens liberty. But recently, in a case called Oregon Restaurant and Lodging Association v. Perez, judicial deference slumped to a new low. … ...

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It doesn’t get more exciting than this!

August 26, 2016 | By TODD GAZIANO

For administrative law nerds, U.S. Tenth Circuit Court Judge Neil Gorsuch’s concurring opinion this week calling for the High Court to reconsider its Chevron doctrine is about as thrilling as it gets!  Although it is hard to top, Tony Francois and I also savored the timing, given that we foreshadowed this type of opinion just … ...