Articles

PLF attorneys regularly represent people who have been stymied by government in their attempts to earn a living.  For example, Adam Sweet and Michael Munie were both prevented from legally operating moving companies until PLF challenged the unconstitutional laws that stood in their way.  It was with these and other entrepreneurial PLF clients in mi ...

In our latest video, PLF client Wendy Birnbaum explains how PLF is helping her seek a legal remedy for bureaucratic delay.  Ms. Birnbaum was unable to open a campground on her property in the foothills of Mt. Rainier while she waited over five years for Pierce County to issue a decision on her permit application.  By law, the county should have iss ...

A few days ago, I wrote about Lemire v. Washington Department of Ecology and the exciting possibility that the Supreme Court of Washington might accept the Court of Appeals' invitation to hear the case.  Well, it didn't take long for the Supreme Court to act.  The Court accepted certification today, meaning it will decide the case on the merits.  W ...

Bellevue, Washington; June 4, 2012: This month marks the kickoff of the 20th anniversary celebrations for Pacific Legal Foundation's first regional office — its Pacific Northwest (PNW) Center, headquartered in Bellevue, Washington. The founding of the PNW Center in 1992 was a major milestone in PLF's history, giving added momentum to PLF's mission ...

At PLF, we litigate for judicial acceptance of the idea that property owners should be allowed to reasonably use their property without undue interference from the government.  Many of our clients, such as Wendy Birnbaum, believe in this principle, but find themselves tangled in red tape when they actually exercise their property rights. Ms. Birnb ...

Last week, the Supreme Court of Washington decided not to review the appellate opinion in Thun v. City of Bonney Lake.  The Thun case arose out of the city's denial of property owner Karl Thun's application to develop condos on his property in Bonney Lake, Washington.  Thun sued the city under the theory that the denial amounted to a taking of his ...

The Ninth Circuit rattled the entire timber industry earlier this year when it held that channeled runoff from forest roads must be regulated as industrial discharge in Northwest Environmental Defense Center v. Brown.  That's because the court's decision could force the forest products sector - from large corporations to small private loggers - to ...

Author: Brian T. Hodges Washington's Growth Management Act (GMA) envisions a scheme where every city and county, in every nook and cranny of the state, adopts land use regulations responsive to a host of general societal interests  (e.g, affordable housing, preserving property rights, protecting rural lands from urban development, protecting ...

Author: Ralph W. Kasarda Last week the Pacific Legal Foundation and Center for Equal Opportunity filed an amicus brief in support of the State of Washington in Farrakhan v. Gregoire.  That case concerns an attempt by convicted criminals to nullify a section of the Washington State Constitution that prohibits felons from voting.  (Previo ...