Articles

Weekly litigation report — December 22, 2018

December 22, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

PLF asks Supreme Court to hear Alaska permafrost case This week, PLF filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to review Tin Cup, LLC v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a case that asks whether the federal government can control land uses on buried frozen permafrost just because the government claims such permafrost is a “navig ...

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California Court of Appeal imposes public trust obligations on groundwater well permits

August 29, 2018 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

This morning a California Court of Appeal issued an unfortunate opinion (although given the state of California courts, perhaps an unsurprising one) affirming in full a trial court decision that imposed public trust obligations on the County of Siskiyou’s issuance of groundwater well permits. The decision could have a significant negative imp ...

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Should the public trust doctrine be expanded to the use of groundwater?

August 10, 2017 | By JEREMY TALCOTT

This morning PLF filed this amicus brief in the California Court of Appeal for the Third District in support of the County of Siskiyou. We asked the Court of Appeal to overturn this superior court decision, which expanded public trust considerations to permits issued for the use of groundwater. Adopting the superior court’s rationale could & ...

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Justices skeptical of Park Service's power to regulate private and state property

January 21, 2016 | By TONY FRANCOIS

Yesterday, the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in Sturgeon v. Frost, in which the issue is whether the National Park Service can regulate activity on property it does not own but is located within the exterior boundaries of a National Park. Several justices were skeptical of the federal government’s argument that ̷ ...

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Supreme Court justices consider National Park Service control of private and state property

January 20, 2016 | By TONY FRANCOIS

It is ice cold under sunny skies in the nation’s capitol today, as Washington DC braces for yet another storm of the century this coming weekend. It is a fitting setting for the Supreme Court to hear oral argument today in the aptly-captioned Sturgeon v. Frost. In this case, the National Park Service is claiming … ...

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PLF gives the Forest Service credit where it is due

December 23, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

We have written (and litigated) at length about the errors of the United States Forest Service, whether that be on forest access, ongoing water rights infringements, or the fire risk that the agency is imposing on its neighboring land owners. So, when the agency does something right, however small, we are obliged to acknowledge it. Last … ...

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During 800th anniversary of magna carta, pundit complains property rights are medieval

August 17, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

In a guest column in today’s major Sacramento printed news product, Christopher Thornburg complains that California’s water rights system is inherited from medieval England. He is not really correct about that. California does enjoy a complex system of related water rights doctrines, only some of which have anything to do with English ...

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Victory for California water rights builds on PLF’s Duarte case

July 13, 2015 | By TONY FRANCOIS

In the course of California’s long drought, state regulators have taken ever more aggressive measures to gain control of local and private water supplies, under cover of emergency declarations from Governor Brown, and emergency regulations adopted by the State Water Resources Control Board. Some of these measures are aimed at requiring addit ...

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President's weekly report — June 5, 2015

June 05, 2015 | By ROB RIVETT

 Lawsuit abuse — Filing without injury PLF filed this letter brief asking the California Supreme Court to review of Animal Legal Defense Fund v. LT Napa Partners—which PLF asked the Supreme Court to overturn an Unfair Competition Law (UCL) case that threatens important civil justice reforms enacted by California voters.  Several years a ...