Articles

An online review portal could replace some occupational licenses in Washington

March 10, 2017 | By CALEB TROTTER

Those of us who oppose over-abundant occupational licensing schemes due to the burdens they impose on employment and the economy without supplying many benefits for the public, frequently note that web-based services like Yelp, and Uber and Lyft’s 5-star rating system are good examples of alternatives to licensing. As it turns out, one Washin ...

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Challenge to Washington, D.C.’s tax scheme moves forward

June 16, 2016 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

This week, in Coleman v. District of Columbia, a federal district court held that the plaintiffs have grounds to bring their Fifth Amendment challenge to the District of Columbia’s taking of their property under its former tax-foreclosure scheme. Liberty Blog readers may recall that PLF filed a friend-of-the-court brief in support of Benja ...

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The Center for Biological Diversity goes batty

February 15, 2016 | By JONATHAN WOOD

The Center for Biological Diversity is threatening to sue the Fish & Wildlife Service for not imposing ruinous and unnecessary restrictions on private property owners throughout 37 states to protect the Northern long-eared bat. It contends that heavy-handed “take” regulations should be imposed despite the fact that the species is th ...

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Washington's Supreme Court hears charter schools argument

October 30, 2014 | By MERIEM L. HUBBARD

On Tuesday, October 28, the Washington Supreme Court heard arguments about the constitutionality of the State’s voter-adopted charter schools law.  Although the opposition pursued a multifaceted assult on the charter schools law, the court focused on a single issue: money. The State Constitution restricts the use of certain funds fo ...

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Back to School Choice 2014 — Defending Washington's charter schools law

August 20, 2014 | By MERIEM L. HUBBARD

In November 2012, Washington became the forty-second state to allow charter schools. The Charter Schools Act, adopted by one and a half million Washington voters, authorized the establishment of up to forty public charter schools in the first five years. Charter schools are public schools, so they are secular, open to all, and don’t charge & ...

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Washington's charter school experiment is off to a fast start

October 30, 2013 | By BRIAN HODGES

Over thirty parent and community groups met last week’s deadline for filing notices of intent to start charter schools in the State of Washington, according to our friends at Washington Policy Center.  Washington opened its doors to charter schools last year with the passage of Initiative I-1240.  That law allows for forty new charter schoo ...

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Washington Supreme Court affirms it doesn’t like arbitration clauses

September 12, 2013 | By ANASTASIA BODEN

Today the Washington Supreme Court issued an opinion in Hill v. Garda, which, unsurprisingly, demonstrated the lasting contempt among courts for arbitration agreements.  In Hill, a group of Garda employees brought a lawsuit against Garda for purported wage and hour violations.  Garda asked the district court to compel arbitration pursuant to an a ...

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Takings law is here to stay

August 16, 2013 | By BRIAN HODGES

The Supreme Court of Washington issued an opinion in Lemire v. Washington Department of Ecology yesterday, upholding an Ecology order that requires rancher Joe Lemire to install livestock exclusion fencing around a portion of his ranch that borders a creek.  This is a disappointing outcome for Lemire, who may now be required to block off … ...

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PLF amicus brief urges WA Supreme Court to respect freedom of contract

April 19, 2013 | By ANASTASIA BODEN

This week PLF filed an amicus brief in the Washington Supreme Court in Hill v. Garda CL, arguing that class arbitration cannot be imposed on parties merely because they agreed to individual arbitration.  As the U.S. Supreme Court recognized in Stolt-Nielsen v. AnimalsFeeds, the differences between individual and class arbitration are so great ...