Articles

The AP has a brief story here about the oral argument this morning in Sackett v. EPA. Early reports suggest that the justices were very skeptical of the EPA’s position: “Justice Samuel Alito called EPA’s actions ‘outrageous.’ Justice Antonin Scalia noted the ‘high-handedness of the agency’ in dealing with private p ...

The audio recording of the oral argument in Sackett v. EPA has become available.  You may access it at the U.S. Supreme Court’s website here. … ...

As part of our continuining Fisher v. University of Texas oral argument coverage, I want to talk about a point pressed by the University in defense of its racial preference: proportional representation.   It has been well-reported that Texas had, through the Top Ten Percent Law, dramatically increased the raw number of under-represented minoriti ...

The U.S. Supreme Court heard oral argument in Decker v. Northwest Environmental Defense Center earlier this week.  Recall that the issue in Decker is whether logging road owners and users must obtain federal National Pollution Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permits to cover stormwater runoff on the roads.  PLF filed an amicus brief on behal ...

Yesterday, the U.S. Supreme Court heard argument in our case, Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District. In this case, the District denied Coy Koontz permits to use 3.7 acres of a 15-acre lot, after he refused to acquiesce to its demand that he perform off-site improvements to 50-acres of publicly owned wetlands (in addition to dedicat ...

Tuesday, the United States Supreme Court heard Koontz v. St. Johns River Water Management District, argued by PLF attorney Paul Beard. A local government agency denied Coy Koontz a building permit because he refused to agree to unreasonable permit conditions. PLF argued that this permit denial was unconstitutional. In the hearing, the Court conside ...

Over a year ago, PLF filed a California Supreme Court brief in California Charter Schools Association v. LAUSD. Right in time for National School Choice Week, the Court issued an order last week setting the case for oral argument on February 4.  After oral argument, the case is “submitted” and the court will have 90 days to issue & ...

The Supreme Court yesterday heard oral argument in the “raisin takings case,” Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture. As we have previously explained, the Department of Agriculture brought an enforcement action against California raisin farmers Marvin and Laura Horne when they refused to transfer a significant portion of their ...

On October 6, 2015, the First Circuit Court of Appeals will hear oral argument in Perfect Puppy, Inc. v. City of East Providence, R.I., an important and interesting takings case.   The dispute, described more fully here and here, arose when the City of East Providence passed an ordinance last spring that banned all pet stores selling live R ...