Articles

Author: Brian T. Hodges Imagine, if you will, a criminal defendant on trial for robbery.  In his defense, the mugger argues that when he pointed a pistol at Joe citizen’s head and demanded “your money or your life, ” he wasn’t stealing.  No, stealing is such an ugly word.  The mugger was simply allowing Joe ...

Author: Daniel Himebaugh Legislators in Oregon have proposed a new bill that would require the state Land Use Board of Appeals (LUBA) and Court of Appeals to award attorney fees to land use applicants who prevail in appealing a government land use decision.  Currently, such awards are discretionary and depend on factors like whether the R ...

Seems to be a reasonable possibility, according to this AP report. … ...

I’ll be speaking to the Americans for Prosperity chapter in Medford on Friday, at 6:30 at the Medford library. I’ll talk about private property, the right to earn a living, and anything else that might come up. All are welcome! … ...

PLF attorneys sent a letter to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today, notifying the agency that we are preparing to sue it for failing to make a required finding on a petition to reclassify six ESA-listed species in California and Oregon.  Last December, PLF and several agricultural organizations petitioned the Service to delist and/or … ...

The Oregonian‘s guest columnist “Portland Aristotle” has an excellent article about the wealth-destroying effects of occupational licensing. A few years ago, PLF helped open the road to economic opportunity in Oregon by defeating that state’s anti-competitive licensing laws for moving companies. … ...

Today, PLF attorneys filed an amicus brief with the Oregon Court of Appeals in Kramer v. City of Lake Oswego—a case in which two public access activists argue that the “public trust doctrine” should be extended to create easements across dry, upland property so that the public can gain access “to . . . navigable … ...

In Oregon—as in most states—a landowner whose property abuts a highway has a right to directly access that road. Thus, an abutting owner is entitled to just compensation when the state acquires the landowner’s right of access in an eminent domain action. Or at least that’s how the story is supposed to go. … ...

The Center for Biological Diversity is threatening to sue the Fish & Wildlife Service for not imposing ruinous and unnecessary restrictions on private property owners throughout 37 states to protect the Northern long-eared bat. It contends that heavy-handed “take” regulations should be imposed despite the fact that the species is th ...