Articles

Total victory in the Starry Night House mural case This week the City of Mount Dora settled with PLF plaintiffs Nancy Nemhauser and Lubomir Jastrzebski in a one-sided agreement that saves the family’s Van Gogh-inspired mural. The city agreed to drop its enforcement action and all fines, leaving the family free to complete the mural … ...

PLF is now Santa’s legal counsel. Santa probably fends off a barrage of bogus lawsuits; implied warranty claims from kids disappointed in their toys, property owners filing fraudulent claims over roof damage, Scrooges claiming noise pollution from too much jolly laughter and tinkling bells in the night. This time, though, Santa is the one sui ...

After 40 years of garnishing worker paychecks under the authority of Abood v. Detroit Board of Education, today the Supreme Court held in Janus v. AFSCME that the coercion must end. In a 5-4 split, the Court today holds that the First Amendment prohibits states from giving public employee unions the special privilege of docking … ...

Think on these three statements: A law forbids you from posting a sign that says, “Vote for Voldemort.” A law forces you to post a sign that says, “Vote for Voldemort.” A law forces you to pay for someone else’s sign that says, “Vote for Voldemort.” Should the First Amendment treat these laws differently? ...

The Supreme Court often prefers that issues “percolate” in the lower courts for some time so that Circuit court and state supreme court judges have an opportunity to address all facets and implications of the arguments prior to high court review. It ensures that the arguments and theories in cases granted by the Supreme Court … ...

New York laws and regulations deem family daycare providers (individuals who operate daycare businesses in their homes) to be “public employees” and requires a union to be the daycare providers’ exclusive representative for bargaining with (e.g., lobbying) the state over daycare regulations and policies. The workers who are “ ...

Government shouldn’t abridge the freedom of speech with regulatory harassment We filed this petition for writ of certiorari asking the Supreme Court to take up the case of Bennie v. Munn. Bob Bennie, a well-regarded financial consultant and leader of a local tea party in Nebraska, made some uncomplimentary remarks about President Obama. Becau ...

We learned for the first time yesterday that Pacific Legal Foundation is one of the subjects of the Virgin Islands Attorney General’s “global warming” subpoena to Exxon/Mobil. This exposes the subpoena to be a politically motivated fishing expedition of the first order. We are lawyers defending the individual liberties and economi ...

After nearly four years of litigation, property owners’ First Amendment rights were finally vindicated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Central Radio Company v. City of Norfolk.  The court ruled that the City of Norfolk unconstitutionally prohibited the plaintiffs (who were protesting the government’s taking of t ...