Articles

Government biologist acknowledges that PETPO has "real concerns" and "there isn’t a legal framework" to protect constitutional property rights

April 19, 2013 | By JONATHAN WOOD

As we reported yesterday, People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners (PETPO) is challenging the federal government’s authority to prevent their community from protecting their local cemetery, their public parks, and their private property from the Utah prairie dog.  The case has garnered some good press over the last two days, inclu ...

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Bureaucrat dismisses the adverse effects of the Service’s Utah prairie dog regulations on the people of Utah

April 29, 2013 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Deseret News has dueling op-eds from Dave Miller, an Iron County Commissioner, and Noreen Walsh, a Regional Director at Fish and Wildlife Service, on the impacts of the federal Utah prairie dog regulations on the people of Utah.  As readers know, PLF is representing People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners (PETPO), a … ...

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PLF asks court to rule on the constitutionality of Utah prairie dog regulation

November 19, 2013 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Yesterday, PLF filed a motion for summary judgment on behalf of our clients, People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners (PETPO), in their case challenging federal regulation of the Utah prairie dog. As our motion explains, Congress, and the federal agencies to which it delegates power, is subject to judicially enforceable limits on its po ...

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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 ...

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PLF's Jonathan Wood on Fox and Friends tomorrow, discussing prairie dog decision

November 06, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Tomorrow morning, I’ll be on Fox and Friends discussing PLF and PETPO‘s victory over the federal government’s unconstitutional regulation of private property to protect the Utah prairie dog. The segment will air at 7:50 am EST. UPDATE: This post has been changed to reflect the new time of the interview. … ...

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What are people saying about PLF's prairie dog win?

November 10, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

PLF’s big win last week on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners, striking down an unconstitutional federal regulation that had devastating effects on a community—all to protect the Utah prairie dog—continues to garner media attention. Last Friday, I appeared on Fox & Friends to discuss the case. That i ...

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New video on PLF's victory in prairie dog case

November 17, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners is a group of Utah property owners and local government that pushed back against unconstitutional federal regulations that barred them from building homes, starting businesses, and, in the case of the local government, protecting an airport and cemetery from a thriving rodent population. As report ...

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PLF's Jonathan Wood on Stossel tonight, talking prairie dog win

December 04, 2014 | By JONATHAN WOOD

Fox Business Network’s John Stossel devotes his program tonight (at 9pm Eastern) to the “Control Freaks” in government. I join Stossel to discuss PLF’s recent victory in the prairie dog case, on behalf of People for the Ethical Treatment of Property Owners, one of whom joins me. Regular readers will recall that federal burea ...

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 ...