Articles

I’m in St. Louis today to argue the case of entrepreneur Michael Munie. He’s been in the moving business for 20 years, and his company, ABC Quality Moving, is one of the most popular moving companies in the city. But under state law, he can’t get permission to operate throughout the rest of Missouri unless he … ...

A federal judge in Pennsylvania today issued a decision striking down several provisions of that state’s anti-competitive laws regarding funeral homes—specifically, ones that limit the ownership of funeral homes to licensed funeral directors, regardless of whether the owner ever actually directs funerals. Judge John Jones—who made headlin ...

Tomorrow the Supreme Court of Georgia will hear arguments in WMW Honda v. American Honda Motor Company, a case that will determine the scope of a Georgia law that allows existing car dealerships to block the opening of competing dealerships in their area. As I discussed in a prior blog post, this case arose when Honda “made the … ...

Recently, bloggers and even the Texas Land Commissioner were decrying several Texas Supreme Court Justices for their “extreme activism” in ruling in favor of property owners in Severance v. Patterson. What was the reason for this outrage? Simple: the Court found that if the state wished to declare that Mrs. Severance’s private pr ...

Jefferson City, MO; July 11, 2012:  Missouri Governor Jay Nixon signed legislation this week repealing the state’s anticompetitive licensing law for moving businesses.  The development marks the final victory in a pro-free-enterprise battle that began when Pacific Legal Foundation attorneys challenged the law’s constitutionality in Ju ...

Since 1894 Americans have celebrated the first Monday in September as a national holiday.  Although its precise history is debated, all agree that the holiday was intended to honor workers and their contributions to society.  Its addition to the calendar signifies the growth of labor unions and is a lasting tribute to the late 19th … ...

Superhero films like The Avengers and The Dark Knight ruled the silver screen this summer. Millions of Americans escaped into cinematic worlds where daring guardians protected society from harm. Given the current economic climate, Americans could use a fleet of real-world fiscal Superheroes. Fortunately, America is already equipped with this its ow ...

This week the Fraser Institute released its Economic Freedom of the World: 2012 Annual Report. The announcement comes with good news and bad news.  The good news: the report is available for free and contains thought-provoking research about nearly 150 countries. The bad news: the United States has dropped to number eighteen in the unadjusted  ...

Courts typically avoid ruling on constitutional issues unless it is necessary to decide a case. There are several reasons for this practice, not the least of which is that ruling on controversial constitutional matters when the case can be resolved on less controversial statutory grounds can make the court look political, or lend credence to ̷ ...