Articles
Don’t know how to identify every one of the 1,500 endangered species? This group wants to throw you in prison.
Ok, that's a slight overstatement. But not as much of one as you would think. Activist group WildEarth Guardians apparently dreams of a world in which people can be thrown in federal prison if they accidentally hit the wrong rodent scurrying across a dark highway, disturb the wrong insect while building a tree house, or even get too close to the wr ...
Articles
Mens rea and DOJ opposition to criminal justice reform
As you may recall, PLF has moved to intervene in WildEarth Guardians v. DOJ, a case in which environmental groups seek to radically expand the criminal reach of the Endangered Species Act, contrary to its language and common sense. Ultimately, the case seeks to subject anyone who accidentally does anything that, unbeknownst to them, negatively affe ...
Articles
Take shouldn’t be a strict liability offense
PLF has filed a motion to intervene on behalf of the New Mexico Cattle Growers' Association, New Mexico Federal Lands Council, and the New Mexico Farm and Livestock Bureau in a case that threatens to radically expand criminal liability under the Endangered Species Act. If the case is successful, we'll all need to quickly become experts on each of t ...
Articles
The lesson of the Animas River spill
caption id="attachment_38450" align="alignright" width="352" By Riverhugger (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons/caption In the Wall Street Journal, attorney and former high-ranking EPA official Bill Wehrum has an op-ed $ arguing that the Animas River spill shouldn't lead to criminal punishment, but neither should similar accidents caused by privat ...