Articles

Author:  Damien M. Schiff Yesterday, my colleague Joshua Thompson posted this fine piece rightly criticizing the Pasadena Star News for its inaccurate reporting of the recent Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals decision overturning a Michigan law that forbids racial preferences.  Recently, the paper also ran an editorial applauding a S ...

Author: Brandon Middleton This commentary from Pat Milligan, the president of the San Bernardino Water District, appeared in yesterday's San Bernardino Sun.  The commentary concerns the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's unlawfully broad designation of critical habitat for the Santa Ana sucker and the impacts the designation will have f ...

Author: Brandon Middleton The last week has seen the Interior Department face numerous questions from members of Congress regarding scientific determinations made under the Endangered Species Act.  Last Thursday, the House Subcommittee on Investigations and Oversight conducted a hearing on the role of science in ESA determinations, at which&# ...

Happy Friday! Here are this week’s legal highlights: Individual Rights – Free Speech We had a major Supreme Court amicus victory this week in Knox v. S.E.I.U.  In a 7-2 knockout, the Court ruled that S.E.I.U.’s mid-year supplemental assessment of fees to be used exclusively for political purposes was unconstitutional.  Each year, no ...

This week has been marked by our work on the Fish and Wildlife Service’s regulation of endangered species — regulation that is often too harsh and, more importantly, in violation of the law. Environmental Law — Endangered Species Petition We filed this 60-day notice to sue with the Fish and Wildlife Service over the Services fa ...

Last month, Judge Selna of the Central District of California rejected, in Bear Valley Mutual Water Co. v. Salazar, a challenge to the critical habitat designation of the Santa Ana Sucker, a “threatened” fish protected under the Endangered Species Act.  The plaintiffs, a collection of local governments, water districts, and flood contr ...

Economic Liberty – Right to Earn a Living We had a very sweet victory this week in Bruner v. Zawacki, our Kentucky movers case. We filed this case in August of last year in federal district court in order to toss out as unconstitutional Kentucky’s outrageous restrictions on starting up a new moving company. Essentially … ...

Tomorrow morning is Ninth Circuit day at PLF. Immediately following Ted Hadzi-Antich’s oral argument in the Green Sturgeon critical habitat listing case, the same panel will hear another very important Endangered Species Act case. Bear Valley Mutual Water Co. v. Jewell, in which Pacific Legal Foundation filed this amicus brief, addresses whet ...

The physical invasion of the raisin snatchers — a property rights victory at the Supreme Court  In a week marked by several major Supreme Court decisions that were quite disappointing to advocates of limited government and the rule of law, there was one very bright spot: this decision in Horne v. United States Department of Agriculture. T ...