Articles

caption id="attachment_49584" align="alignright" width="282" Florida's Second District of Appeal/caption On Tuesday, Florida's Second District Court of Appeal will hold oral arguments in a number of cases, including in Pacific Legal Foundation's P.I.E., LLC v. DeSoto County. Christina Martin and I will represent P.I.E., and Christina will argue ...

This week, PLF filed this amicus brief in Beach Group Investments, Inc. v. Florida Department of Environmental Protection.  This case raises yet another example of how the lower courts are struggling to interpret the Supreme Court's "final decision ripeness" rule in takings claims. The takings ripeness doctrine requires a final administrative decis ...

This week several groups filed "friend of the court" briefs supporting PLF's Supreme Court petition in Wayside Church v. Van Buren County. Two of the amicus briefs—one by AARP and the other by the Buckeye Institute—focus on the need for the Court to review Michigan's unjust tax foreclosure law. Under this unjust and unconstitutional law, Van Buren ...

Today, National Review published my article discussing, Wayside Church v. Van Buren County, PLF's case challenging legalized theft in Michigan. Michigan's unjust property tax law allows local governments to steal from people who fall behind on their property taxes. As I explain in the article, Can the government take your home and all your equity i ...

Today, PLF filed a lawsuit in federal court to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to obey the law and issue a decision on the American Federation of Aviculture's petition to remove the golden parakeet from the list of protected species under the Endangered Species Act. The federal government listed the golden parakeet, also known as the go ...

When Wayside Church fell behind on its 2011 property taxes on a parcel that the church had used as a youth camp, Van Buren County took the youth camp property and sold it for $206,000 to pay the church's $16,750 in taxes, penalties, interest, and fees. The County kept the surplus proceeds—$189,250 more than the debt—as a windfall. Similarly, the Co ...

For an example of how impossible it can be for property owners to ripen (i.e., get a court to hear) a takings claim, look no further than the decision today in GolfRock, LLC v. Lee County.  Even when the government regulates away the use of your land, it can sometimes be very difficult to get courts to hear your claim for just compensation under th ...

caption id="attachment_45266" align="alignright" width="300" The Chmielewski family's one-story home/caption In recent years, many local and state governments have used crafty methods to take access to private beaches without first paying for the right. Governments have imposed easements on private land, declared private land public, declared a ...

Once again, federal officials have missed a legal deadline required by the Endangered Species Act. PLF just warned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that unless it acts within 60 days on the American Federation of Aviculture's petition to delist the golden parakeet, we will sue to force action. The federal government's failure to act violates the ...