Articles

Victory : PLF and People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners defeat unconstitutional Endangered Species Act regulation

November 05, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

For the first time, a federal court has struck down federal regulation of a species under the Endangered Species Act, holding that the Constitution doesn’t give the federal government limitless powers. People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners members are property owners and local government in southwestern Utah who have suffered f ...

Articles

Is the Constitution a paradox?

May 22, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In defending the constitutionality of the Utah prairie dog regulation, the government makes a paradoxical claim. Conceding that federal intrusions into areas of traditional state authority are unconstitutional, the government nonetheless argues that the Necessary and Proper Clause allows the federal government to regulate anything for any reason, s ...

Articles

It's good to have friends

May 27, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Many friend-of-the-court briefs have been filed supporting People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners‘ challenge to the federal government’s unconstitutional Utah prairie dog regulation. These briefs are a reminder of how important the issue is and how unnecessary the federal regulation — and its immense burdens on indivi ...

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Oral argument in PLF’s prairie dog case Sept. 28

September 21, 2015 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Next week, I’ll be arguing People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners’ case against the unconstitutional Utah prairie dog regulation in the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals in Denver, Colorado. The argument will be at 9 am mountain time at the Byron White Courthouse at 1823 Stout Street. As you’ll recall, this is the ̷ ...

Articles

The Commerce Clause isn't a "do-whatever-you-feel-like" power

January 22, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

In an article published today by the Federalist Society’s Engage, I discuss PLF’s constitutional challenge to the Endangered Species Act in the prairie dog case. As you’ll recall, we represented People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners — a group of Utah residents who have suffered for decades under federal regulat ...

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Tenth Circuit overturns Utah prairie dog decision

March 30, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

We got some disappointing news yesterday when the Tenth Circuit overturned the federal district court’s decision that federal regulations prohibiting the take of Utah prairie dogs exceed the federal government’s constitutional powers. As you may not recall, since more than 18 months passed between oral argument and the decision, PLF is ...

Articles

PLF asks Supreme Court to restore constitutional limits on federal power

September 26, 2017 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Our Constitution limits the federal government’s powers to those expressly listed in the document. But the government we have today is a far cry from the limited government described by our Founding Fathers. PLF is asking the Supreme Court to restore the Constitution’s limits by rejecting an extreme, limitless interpretation of the Comm ...