Articles

PLF urges Supreme Court to review constitutionality of the Indian Child Welfare Act

August 18, 2017 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

PLF filed this friend of the court brief at the Supreme Court today, urging the Court to take Goldwater Institute‘s challenge to the Indian Child Welfare Act. In their petition, two Indian children are asking the Supremes to review an Arizona Court of Appeals decision that applied the Indian Child Welfare Act, or ICWA, to their private  ...

Articles

DC Circuit stops another unconstitutional FEC action

August 02, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Today, the DC Circuit put the brakes on yet another unconstitutional regulation from a federal government agency—this time the Federal Election Commission (FEC).  Last year, the FEC banned Super PACs from using the name of the candidate it supports in a website domain name or the title of a social media page.  Pursuing America’s Greatness ...

Articles

"Docs v. Glocks" case not about guns but speech, PLF says

May 24, 2016 | By CALEB TROTTER

Last month, PLF filed a brief in Wollschlaeger v. Governor of the State of Florida. The case, also known as “Docs v. Glocks,” will be argued in June at the Eleventh Circuit Court of Appeals. Recently, I was interviewed for an article in the Florida Record about PLF’s brief and the issue in the case. If … ...

Articles

Free speech prevails in Fourth Circuit do-over

January 31, 2016 | By SHAUNEEN WERLINGER

After nearly four years of litigation, property owners’ First Amendment rights were finally vindicated by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit in Central Radio Company v. City of Norfolk.  The court ruled that the City of Norfolk unconstitutionally prohibited the plaintiffs (who were protesting the government’s taking of t ...

Articles

Supreme Court orders three U.S. Courts of Appeals to reconsider cases upholding restrictions on speech

July 01, 2015 | By SHAUNEEN WERLINGER

On Monday, the Supreme Court ordered three federal appellate courts to reconsider their decisions upholding sign restrictions in light of its recent decision in Reed v. Town of Gilbert. The Court emphasized in Reed that government regulation of speech is content-based (and thus presumptively unconstitutional) if the law explicitly “draws dist ...

Articles

Supreme Court victory for free speech : Reed v. Town of Gilbert

June 18, 2015 | By DEBORAH LA FETRA

The Supreme Court today unanimously reversed the Ninth Circuit in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, holding that the town’s Sign Code contained content-based regulations of speech that do not survive strict scrutiny. The Sign Code categorizes temporary signs and then restricts their size, duration, location, and other characteristics depending on the ...

Articles

President's weekly report — March 27, 2015

March 27, 2015 | By ROB RIVETT

Eminent domain — New Jersey Supreme Court abandons precedent In this 3-2 decision, the New Jersey Supreme Court upheld the use of eminent domain in 62-64 Main Street v. Mayor and City Council of the City of Hackensack.  The question here is how much blight is just pretext and how much is really enough to justify condemning … ...

Articles

PLF continues to support Abigail Fisher

August 05, 2014 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

Yesterday PLF filed this brief amicus curiae in support of Abigail Fisher.  PLF was joined on the brief by our friends from Center for Equal Opportunity, Project 21, Reason Foundation, and Individual Rights Foundation.  Ms. Fisher continues to fight for her right to be treated equally under the law.  As you recall, last year the Supreme Court ...

Articles

Race-based contracting is unconstitutional

April 09, 2013 | By JOSHUA THOMPSON

So argues this op-ed that I co-authored with Roger Clegg published in the Washington Times this morning.  Here’s a snippet: Remedial discrimination makes less and less sense with every tick of the clock, as the days when black companies were not allowed to compete fade into the past, and as America becomes increasingly multiethnic and multi ...