Articles

Weekly litigation report — September 1, 2018

September 01, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

It’s time to finally settle the legislative exactions question Earlier this week, PLF attorneys filed this reply brief in support of the U.S. Supreme Court petition in Dabbs v. Anne Arundel County. Interestingly, the County’s opposition brief did not disagree with our argument that review should be granted to settle the nationwide confl ...

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PLF appeals Oakland art decision to Ninth Circuit

March 09, 2018 | By TONY FRANCOIS

This week PLF appealed the district court’s decision in BIA Bay Area v. City of Oakland to the Ninth Circuit. This case challenges Oakland’s law compelling home builders to buy art commissions from (preferably local) artists if they want a building permit. This law violates the First Amendment, by compelling artistic speech, and the Fif ...

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Weekly litigation report — September 30, 2017

September 30, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Government workers have another chance to declare independence! Supreme Court asked to restore Utah prairie dog conservation program—and constitutional limits on federal power Neither legislative bodies nor government bureaucrats can steal property National Forest lands should be accessible to all — not just a few hearty backpackers PLF ...

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Victory in residential rental inspection case

May 30, 2017 | By MERIEM L. HUBBARD

Warrantless inspections of residential rental properties are a source of controversy in many California cities. Take, for example, the City of Highland located in San Bernardino County. The City adopted a Residential Rental Enhancement Program requiring an inspection of all residential rental properties. Pursuant to the Program, city inspectors cou ...

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Weekly litigation report — May 20, 2017

May 20, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Amicus brief filed for contractor long frozen out of contracts Settlement reached in mobile home park case Cap and trade appealed Prairie dog ruling petition to the 10th Circuit Reply filed in Kinderace petition to Supreme Court Affirmative action case goes back to district court Amicus brief filed for contractor long frozen out of contracts ̷ ...

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Weekly litigation update — May 6, 2017

May 06, 2017 | By JAMES BURLING

Intervention filed in Congressional Review Act case As has been widely reported elsewhere, Congress and the Administration have dusted off the Congressional Review Act and have set about rescinding a series of Obama-era regulations. You can read more about that on our CRA-themed website, RedTapeRollback.com. Much credit for this recent effort goes ...

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Is tolerated freedom really freedom at all?

March 21, 2017 | By ETHAN BLEVINS

More and more, we have to receive government permission to exercise basic rights. This subverts a fundamental notion of liberty: first comes freedom, then comes government to secure that freedom. We’ve begun instead to slip into a world in which any freedom we enjoy exists as an indulgence granted by government–a government that can wi ...

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West Hollywood punishes developers for building houses

November 04, 2016 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

One thing that nearly all Californians agree on is that the price of housing in this state is too high. The relentlessly rising prices are unmistakable evidence of a housing shortage: not enough homes are built to meet the rising demand. Husband and wife entrepreneurs Shelah and Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer thought they could help meet that … ...

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Update on warrantless inspection case

September 29, 2016 | By WENCONG FA

I’ll be in appearing in federal court on Monday on behalf of a property owner in his lawsuit against Highland. The City punishes those who dare to object to warrantless inspections by withholding the rental license. That forces property owners to waive their Fourth Amendment rights before they may put their property on the rental marke ...