Victory in the Starry Night mural case!
The Starry Night House saga has finally come to a close. Last night, the Mount Dora City Council voted unanimously to approve a settlement agreement that lets homeowners Nancy Nemhauser and Lubomir Jastrzebski keep the mural on their house and a surrounding wall. The agreement also dropped all of the previously imposed fines and will grandfather ...
South Dakota must let boys dance
Freddie Linden is a fifteen-year-old dancer who wants to try out for his South Dakota high school's Competitive Dance team. Freddie began dancing when he was seven years old, and his family quickly realized that he possessed natural talent for dance. Since then, Freddie has trained extensively, landed roles as a lead dancer in multiple productions ...
Family files federal complaint to save their ‘Starry Night’ mural
caption id="attachment_56977" align="alignright" width="300" The family in front of their Starry Night inspired mural./caption Today we filed this complaint against the City of Mount Dora, along with emergency motions asking for a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction against the city. We alleged that the city has acted unlawfu ...
Should the public trust doctrine be expanded to the use of groundwater?
caption id="attachment_46402" align="alignright" width="300" Thankfully, no party has claimed that groundwater is "navigable"/caption This morning PLF filed this amicus brief in the California Court of Appeal for the Third District in support of the County of Siskiyou. We asked the Court of Appeal to overturn this superior court decision, which ...
Why the separation of powers matters for racial equality
In high school, I spent hours hunkered at a library computer playing Sid Meier's Civilization instead of working on the school newspaper. In the game, you could lead your own civilization from stone age to space age. You'd guide every detail about your burgeoning society--from their religion to their labor. You'd eventually cross paths with ...
Victory for Nashville property owners and guests
In an important victory for economic liberty and property rights, today, a judge in Nashville, Tennessee agreed that the Nashville Metro Council's regulations of short-term rentals are unconstitutional. Among other things, the ordinance banned any form of advertising short-term rentals with signage on the property, and capped the number of non- ...
Tesla finally challenging Michigan's anti-competitive direct-sales ban in court
Rather than use independent dealerships, Tesla Motors has fought for years to sell its luxurious, electric vehicles directly to consumers through galleries owned and operated by Tesla. It should come as no surprise, then, that the car dealerships have teamed up in various state legislatures to keep Tesla out of their state unless Tesla agrees to w ...
Courts should care about your right to earn a living
Though the rights to free speech and bear arms get all the press, the right to earn a living might be the most fundamental right of all. The Fourteenth Amendment protects that right---allowing all of us the opportunity to provide for our families by pursuing a lawful vocation. There was no better advocate for that right than Frederick Douglass, ...
Dentist's legal battle with Ohio will continue
Advertising one's area of expertise is usually desirable for both the professional and the public. But if you're a dentist in Ohio, regardless of whether you are completely qualified in a specialty area of dentistry, you might not be allowed to advertise yourself as a specialist in that area. Fortunately, last week, the Sixth Circuit Court of Appea ...