Articles

PLF asks the U.S. Supreme Court to revisit Penn Central

December 05, 2018 | By BRIAN HODGES

Forty years ago, in Penn Central Transp.  Co. v. City of New York (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court explained that regulatory takings cases are “essentially ad hoc, factual inquiries” wherein courts are instructed to consider a number of case specific factors, including “the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant;” ...

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A postscript to the Utah prairie dog case : federal agency embraces state-led reform

April 13, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

For decades, a federal agency had forbidden people in southwestern Utah from doing things that most of us take for granted in our own communities, like building homes, starting businesses, or protecting their airport, playgrounds, and cemetery from disruption, all ostensibly to protect the Utah prairie dog. Thanks to a lawsuit PLF filed on behalf ...

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One unelected bureaucrat should not have unilateral authority over the use of 640 million acres of public land

April 11, 2018 | By JEFF MCCOY

Today, PLF filed a brief on behalf of Gregory Yount, a self-employed prospector and miner, that asks the Supreme Court to hear two cases involving the use of federal public land. At issue is one section of the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), a 1976 law that (like its name implies) governs management … ...

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Ninth Circuit : Unelected bureaucrats can do whatever they want, no matter what the law or facts say. See Chevron.

March 02, 2018 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In the 80s, Congress enacted a statute authorizing the Service to move otters to southern California on the condition that it implement protections for the surrounding fishery and the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on it, including requirements that the Service exclude otters from parts of the fishery and exempt fishermen from criminal prosecut ...

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PLF files renewed motion to dismiss in lawsuit that challenges use of the Congressional Review Act

October 27, 2017 | By JEFF MCCOY

Today, PLF filed a renewed motion to dismiss in Center for Biological Diversity v. Zinke, a case that challenges Congress’ use of the Congressional Review Act to overturn a Department of Interior regulation that severely restricted certain types of hunting in Alaska’s National Wildlife Refuges. PLF’s motion, filed on behalf of its ...

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Courts should look to voters’ intent when interpreting constitutional limitations on taxation

July 07, 2017 | By JEFF MCCOY

Yesterday, Pacific Legal Foundation, along with the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association and the Green Valley Hospital, filed an amicus brief in support of a group of Arizona legislators who are challenging the imposition of a hospital tax to pay for state Medicaid expansion. The charge at issue, which was passed by a simple majority of … ...

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PLF petitions for rehearing in Utah prairie dog case

May 15, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, we filed a petition for rehearing en banc in People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service—our challenge to the federal government’s constitutional authority to regulate take of the Utah prairie dog. Three years ago, the District Court for the District of Utah ruled the regulation unc ...

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Supreme Court calls for the Solicitor General’s views on Rinehart v. California

May 15, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

This morning, the Supreme Court asked the United States’ Solicitor General to weigh in on Rinehart v. California, PLF’s challenge to California’s suction dredge mining ban. The case raises significant questions about federalism, preemption, and state regulation of federal lands. … ...

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Federalism depends on courts stopping states from regulating beyond their borders

May 10, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Today, PLF filed an amicus brief in the Second Circuit supporting a television manufacturer’s challenge to a Connecticut law that shifts the cost of a local recycling program onto consumers in other states. The law is plainly unconstitutional under the Dormant Commerce Clause, which forbids states from regulating or taxing activity beyond th ...