Articles

A forgotten property rights protection in Florida

October 11, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

The Environmental and Land Use Law Section of the Florida Bar (ELULS) recently published my article about a forgotten protection provided by Florida’s Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act. Twenty-one years ago, the Florida Legislature passed the Act to provide additional property rights protections to those already reco ...

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Earth to the Feds : dry New Mexico should not be designated “critical habitat” for jungle-loving jaguar

November 01, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Calling New Mexico essential to the conservation of the jaguar is kind of like calling your garbage can essential to a raccoon just because you found one snooping through the garbage once. That’s why PLF filed this opening brief challenging the jaguar critical habitat designation in New Mexico on behalf of New Mexico Farm & … ...

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Goodwins’ fight against land grab and First Amendment violations gaining national attention

February 28, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

This weekend, Forbes carried an excellent story about PLF’s fight on behalf of Edward and Delanie Goodwin. In July, PLF attorneys filed a First Amendment challenge to protect the Goodwins’ right to speak on their own private property. Walton County banned signs on privately owned beaches last year, hoping to allow the public to trespass ...

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DeSoto County takes bite of P.I.E.; P.I.E. bites back

March 23, 2017 | By MARK MILLER

When the Florida Legislature enacted the Bert J. Harris, Jr., Private Property Rights Protection Act, it explained that the law provided a remedy to landowners unfairly affected by government regulation on their property. The law says: When a specific action of a governmental entity has inordinately burdened an existing use of real property or a v ...

Articles

PLF threatens lawsuit over feds’ failure to revise outdated golden parakeet regulations

April 12, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

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 ...

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Florida city unconstitutionally authorizes public trespassing

April 12, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

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 right of custom where none existed, and attempted to expand the public trust doctrine beyond its limit. Today, ...

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Government evades property rights by stalling

July 07, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

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 … ...

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PLF asks Supreme Court to stop Michigan from stealing

July 13, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

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 … ...

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PLF sues to end counterproductive golden parakeet regulations

July 20, 2017 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

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 … ...