Articles

Is there a de minimis exception to the Equal Protection Clause?

March 31, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Ralph W. Kasarda Would the government be correct in arguing that a public contracting scheme that discriminates and grants preferences on the basis of race is not subject to strict scrutiny, if the program discriminates only a little bit? I recently participated in oral argument before the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals in PLF& ...

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North Carolina's contracting quotas found to be unconstitutional in H.B. Rowe v. Tippett

July 23, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author:  Ralph W. Kasarda Under the guise of its Minority Business Enterprise and Woman Business Enterprise Program (MWBE Program), North Carolina has operated a discriminatory public contracting program since 1989.  Yesterday, the Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals, in H.B. Rowe v. Tippett, held that most of the MWBE Program is unconstitu ...

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Are Hawaiians an Indian tribe?

December 08, 2010 | By PACIFIC LEGAL FOUNDATION

Author: Joshua Thompson Our friends over at the Center for Equal Opportunity have shed some light on some shady tactics by our lame-duck congress.  It seems that the outgoing members might try to push through the "Akaka Bill."  That Bill attempts to get native Hawaiians classified as Indian tribes so that preferences granted b ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 … ...

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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 ...

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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 ...

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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 ...