Articles

Today, the president is signing an executive order designed to bring more accountability to federal agencies. This executive order comes partly as a result of PLF research and cases battling bureaucratic overreach. PLF client Andy Johnson will be at the signing ceremony. Below is an article from 2016 that Andy wrote describing, in his own … ...

Oral argument held again in Knick at the Supreme Court On January 16, the Supreme Court heard reargument in Knick v. Scott Township, the case where Rose Knick sued her town after it declared the public could trespass on her property in order to search for some old stones, claimed to be colonial-era graves. Knick … ...

Public land stewards reiterate that the president can reduce the size of national monuments Briefing is now complete on the motion to dismiss Utah Diné Bikéyah v. Trump, a case that challenges the president’s ability to reduce the size of national monuments. PLF represents individuals and non-profit organizations that recreate, work, and vo ...

Judicial review essential to hold federal agencies accountable On December 7, PLF filed a complaint on behalf of New Mexico ranchers in Northern New Mexico Stockman’s Association v. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS). This new lawsuit comes on the heels of our latest Supreme Court victory last week in Weyerhaeuser v. United States Fish and R ...

Forty years ago, in Penn Central Transp.  Co. v. City of New York (1978), the U.S. Supreme Court explained that regulatory takings cases are “essentially ad hoc, factual inquiries” wherein courts are instructed to consider a number of case specific factors, including “the economic impact of the regulation on the claimant;” ...

Another PLF win in the Supreme Court This week, the Supreme Court ruled unanimously (8–0 with Justice Kavanaugh not participating) in favor of PLF client Edward Poitevent and his family in Weyerhaeuser v. U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service. In a factual sense, the decision concerns whether the endangered dusky gopher frog’s “critical ha ...

When the government negotiates for a limited-access easement across your property, it cannot turn around later and decide it has an unlimited right to cross your property. Wil Wilkins and Jane Stanton, two Montana landowners, have had to sue the U.S. Forest Service to prevent it from pulling exactly that kind of bait-and-switch. This week, … ...

Rose Knick thought the pinnacle of her case would be on October 3, 2018, when eight Supreme Court justices spent an hour hearing legal arguments arising from her attempt to hold Scott Township accountable for taking her property without paying for it. But now Rose will do something few people who make it to the … ...

A shy frog becomes the center of attention at the Supreme Court This week the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in our Endangered Species Act case known as Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. The Court accepted the case to consider two questions. First, whether the federal government … ...