PLF and Western Mining Alliance have filed an amicus brief in the Ninth Circuit case Bohmker v. Oregon. In the brief, we argue that federal mining policy preempts Oregon’s ban on a federally-approved and encouraged mining practice. Part of having a federalist system of government is deciding which level of government gets final say when R ...
Though occupational licensing laws are often justified in terms of health or safety, studies show that licensing regimes are more often bare attempts by entrenched business interests to protect their market share. The result of such crony laws is that entrepreneurs are barred from pursuing an honest living, with no corresponding benefit to the pu ...
The Oregonian has published my op-ed on PLF client David Hansen, who was fined $30,000 for making marketing drawings without an architect’s license. As I write in the op-ed: David’s story is just one example in a trend of licensing bodies interpreting their authority broadly to prevent people from competing with licensees. Both ends o ...
Late last week, Oregon’s court of appeals issued its long-awaited decision in the case, Kramer v. City of Lake Oswego—a case in which two public access activists shockingly claimed that the “public trust doctrine” should be extended to create easements across dry, upland property so that the public can gain access “to . . ...
We received an adverse ruling in our lawsuit on behalf of David Hansen, which challenged a ruling by the Oregon Board of Architects that David practiced unlicensed architecture when he created marketing drawings. These drawings were not blueprints or plans; they were meant to help a property development company attract retailers to potential deve ...
PLF has filed an amicus brief in support of Scott Timber and the Union, and urged the Supreme Court to take up this case. … ...