Articles

Weekly litigation report — January 19, 2019

January 19, 2019 | By JAMES BURLING

Oral argument held again in Knick at the Supreme Court On January 16, the Supreme Court heard reargument in Knick v. Scott Township, the case where Rose Knick sued her town after it declared the public could trespass on her property in order to search for some old stones, claimed to be colonial-era graves. Knick … ...

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Rose Knick’s historic Constitutional case to be reargued

November 07, 2018 | By CHRISTINA MARTIN

Rose Knick thought the pinnacle of her case would be on October 3, 2018, when eight Supreme Court justices spent an hour hearing legal arguments arising from her attempt to hold Scott Township accountable for taking her property without paying for it. But now Rose will do something few people who make it to the … ...

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Weekly litigation report — November 2, 2018

November 02, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

Knick to be reargued The court has ordered Knick v. Scott Township for reargument. In this order the Court has asked Ms. Knick to file a supplemental briefs by the end of the month with the town’s reply due just before Christmas. The issue the court is asking for more briefing on was raised in oral … ...

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Weekly litigation update — October 6, 2018

October 06, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

A shy frog becomes the center of attention at the Supreme Court This week the Supreme Court of the United States heard oral argument in our Endangered Species Act case known as Weyerhaeuser Company v. United States Fish & Wildlife Service. The Court accepted the case to consider two questions. First, whether the federal government … ...

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Weekly litigation update — August 25, 2018

August 25, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

Reply brief filed in Knick PLF attorneys filed this reply brief in Knick v. Scott Township, our case challenging the bizarre Supreme Court rule that prevents property owners from bringing federal takings claims in federal court. Mrs. Knick simply wants to keep members of the public from traisping on her property. The town passed an ordinance R ...

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PLF wins in New Orleans property demolition case

June 22, 2018 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

Today, we received a favorable, published decision from the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals in the case of Garrett v. City of New Orleans.   This case challenges the City’s demolition of a town home a couple (the Garretts) purchased from the City. The City destroyed the home without any notice, hearing or compensation to the … ...

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PLF files its merits brief in the Knick Supreme Court property case

June 18, 2018 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

In late May, PLF attorneys filed this brief on the merits in the case of Knick v. Township of Scott, Pennsylvania, which is currently before the United States Supreme Court. The Knick case is a property rights dispute arising from a Town’s efforts to force Ms. Rose Mary Knick to allow the public to enter and … ...

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Weekly litigation report — March 10, 2018

March 10, 2018 | By JAMES BURLING

Supreme Court grants hugely important property rights case! For over thirty years PLF attorneys have been trying to put an end to the infamous “Williamson County” rule that stops property owners from going to federal court to vindicate their constitutionally guaranteed property rights. Named after a 1985 case where the Court refused to ...

Articles

Horrifying government overreach : PLF asks Supreme Court to hear challenge to cemetery access law

October 31, 2017 | By J. DAVID BREEMER

Rose Mary Knick owns a quiet, 90-acre, stone-fenced farm in rural Pennsylvania. The parcel is bounded on all sides by old stone walls and no trespassing signs at various intervals. According to the local government, it also contains an ancient burial ground of some sort… … ...