Articles

Regulatory Guidance on wetlands Jurisdictional Determinations West Hollywood shakedown -- Property Rights Palo Alto shakedown -- Property Rights Florida island taken in the Keys -- Property Rights A California tax-limitation up in smoke up in Upland Endangered Species Act -- wolves into New Mexico Alchemy -- Wetlands and from dry upl ...

California Supreme Court to take up tax case The right to a jury when the federal government takes your property Appeal filed in mobile home case Loss in gopher frog critical habitat challenge Union trespassing upheld Stack and pack upheld -- loss for property owners Adverse asbestos decision and peanut butter sandwiches Ca ...

Imagine your state limited the number of drivers licenses to less than those already issued, in order to reduce greenhouse emissions (which many argue raise global temperatures). And then, it sold the right to your license at auction to the highest bidder. How much would you be willing to bid just to keep your drivers license? Do you have enough to ...

Are you paying hidden taxes through your electric utility bill?  The residents of Redding are, and a lawsuit to stop it has reached the California Supreme Court.  PLF attorneys filed a brief last week challenging those taxes in Citizens for Fair REU Rates v. Redding. When the Redding City Council approved the city's budgets for fiscal years 2009 a ...

Enacted by voters as a ballot initiative in 1978, California's Proposition 13 gives property owners relief on their tax bills by limiting property taxes to one percent of a property's value, with a maximum two percent increase for inflation per year. The property's "base value"—used to calculate the one percent bill—may be reassessed when the prope ...

PLF represents Morning Star Packing Co and others in their constitutional challenge to California's illegal greenhouse gas allowance auction.  A hearing this week at the California State Senate illustrated how high the stakes in this fight are.  California anticipated collecting $1 billion dollars (cue Dr. Evil) to balance its budget this year by a ...

Limited Government -- Tax Limitations We filed our petition and complaint in Morning Star Packing Company v. California Air Resources Board.  This is the case where we allege that California's unique system of creating an auction for emission credits under AB 32 violates the California Constitution because scheme to raise billions of dollars were ...

In light of the Court's recent, disappointing decision in the Pacific Palisades Coastal Commission case, it's encouraging to note when the Court got it right in Young v. Schmidt.  This was the case brought by former UCLA Chancellor Charles Young challenging Proposition 13's legislative super-majority vote requirement.  Young maintained that Proposi ...

I hope everyone had an enjoyable Thanksgiving Holiday.  We all have much to be thankful for.  Without further ado, here are the highlights of last week's case developments. Property Rights -- Koontz in the United States Supreme Court We filed our opening brief in Koontz v. St. Johns Water Management District in the United States Supreme Court.  O ...