Articles

Today, the president is signing an executive order designed to bring more accountability to federal agencies. This executive order comes partly as a result of PLF research and cases battling bureaucratic overreach. PLF client Andy Johnson will be at the signing ceremony. Below is an article from 2016 that Andy wrote describing, in his own words, hi ...

Is permafrost—ground that remains continuously frozen for years on end—a "navigable water"? That's what government regulators who enforce the Clean Water Act want us to believe. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) believes that permanently frozen ground can be regulated as a "wetland." To most people, that probably sounds like a stretch. W ...

Today, PLF filed a notice of appeal in Tin Cup, LLC v. Army Corps of Engineers. PLF represents a small, family-owned pipe fabrication company in Alaska which wishes to relocate to a new site for its expanding business. The relocation requires a placement of a gravel pad, construction of several buildings, and a railroad spur. Because the project re ...

On June 28, The Heritage Foundation will host a panel on Capitol Hill titled "Reducing the Regulatory Obstacles in Agriculture." While government has imposed many regulatory obstacles on individuals and business owners in virtually every industry, those that farmers face are multiplying rapidly. As we've explained many times on Liberty Blog, one of ...

As my fellow Liberty Bloggers have joyously explained, the Supreme Court's unanimous ruling for our clients in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co. will provide relief to millions of landowners whose property is subject to ever-expanding claims of federal jurisdiction and control. Just how important the Hawkes decision turns out to be will de ...

The Johnson family's long ordeal with EPA, concerning their construction of an environmentally-friendly stock pond on their private property, is finally over. After ordering Andy Johnson to remove the pond, on pain of tens of millions of dollars in potential fines, the federal government has agreed to settle the case. Importantly, under the settlem ...

Earlier today, the Federalist Society published a close look at the legal issue the Supreme Court of the United States will consider later this month in Pacific Legal Foundation's Hawkes case. The piece, written by PLF principal attorney Damien Schiff and yours truly, is called U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc.: Wetlands Jurisdiction ...

Today, Pacific Legal Foundation filed its Respondents' Brief on the merits in United States Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes Co., Inc. The Supreme Court of the United States will hear oral arguments in the case on Wednesday, March 30, 2016. PLF advances property rights cases for Supreme Court review in order to protect the constitutional rights of ...

Controversy continues to boil over the Animas River spill. In case you don't recall, this spill occurred late last year when EPA contractors burst a plugged mine, sending three million gallons of waste water (including arsenic) into the Animas River and other waterways. EPA waited nearly 24 hours to tell anyone about the massive spill, significantl ...