Articles

If every connection is significant, then none are

December 23, 2013 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Last week, I testified before the Environmental Protection Agency’s Science Advisory Board review panel on the EPA’s recent wetlands connectivity report.  Last week’s testimony follows on PLF’s written comments to the Board in October.  EPA is using the connectivity report to justify a proposed new regulation that will att ...

Articles

Holding the feds accountable for closing farm without due process

February 07, 2014 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Next Monday morning I will be presenting oral argument in the federal District Court for the Eastern District of California in Sacramento, in the case of Duarte v. Corps of Engineers.  PLF represents Duarte Nursery, Inc., and its president, John Duarte, in their suit against the Army Corps of Engineers, which violated their constitutional due  ...

Articles

Listen to PLF client John Duarte on today's Ray Appleton radio show

February 11, 2014 | By TONY FRANCOIS

PLF client John Duarte is scheduled to appear on the radio later this morning with host Ray Appleton on Fresno’s KMJ 580 AM, between 11am and 2pm, and among other topics he will be talking about PLF’s case on his behalf against the US Army Corps of Engineers and yesterday’s hearing (spoiler: the hearing went … ...

Articles

PLF attorney Tony Francois to appear on KMJ Fresno's Ray Appleton Show

February 12, 2014 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Tomorrow in the noon hour on the West Coast I will be joined by PLF client John Duarte as we are interviewed by KMJ Fresno AM 580’s Ray Appleton, to talk about PLF’s lawsuit on John’s behalf against the United States Army Corps of Engineers.  You can tune in over the air to AM 580 … ...

Articles

Judge refuses to toss PLF suit against wetlands enforcers due process violations

April 23, 2014 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Today, the United States District Court for the Eastern District of California, denied the federal government’s motion to dismiss PLF’s due process challenge against the Army Corps of Engineers, brought on behalf of Duarte Nursery and its president, John Duarte. The suit challenges the Army Corps’ violation of Duarte’s cons ...

Articles

Judge again refuses to toss Duarte Nursery's due process claims in PLF suit

March 27, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

In Duarte v. Corps of Engineers, the trial court has, for the second time, denied a motion by the federal government to dismiss Duarte Nursery’s claims for violation of the Due Process Clause against the Army Corps of Engineers. Over two years ago, the Army Corps ordered Duarte off its farm over alleged violations of the … ...

Articles

PLF sues Corps of Engineers for First Amendment retaliation against Duarte Nursery

September 03, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Today, after the federal court granted leave to file an amended pleading, Duarte Nursery, Inc., and its president, John Duarte, filed this amended complaint against the United States and the Corps of Engineers, to add a claim for First Amendment retaliation to Duarte’s already pending due process claims against the Army Corps. After Duarte s ...

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US Senator Grassley speaks on PLF client John Duarte's fight with federal wetland enforcers

February 26, 2016 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Yesterday, February 25, United States Senator Chuck Grassley (R – Iowa) took to the floor of the Senate Chamber to inform his colleagues about PLF client John Duarte’s ongoing battle against the Army Corps of Engineers over federal claims that Duarte Nursery needed an expensive and onerous federal permit simply to plow its fields. Senat ...

Articles

What if the Clean Water Act is unconstitutionally vague?

April 04, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

As regular readers know, PLF argued a case in the Supreme Court of the United States last week, U.S. Army Corps v. Hawkes Co., concerning whether property owners can have their day in court when the federal government declares their land subject to federal control. During the oral argument, Justice Kennedy — long-considered the “swing ...