January 20, 2016

Supreme Court supremacy

Commission takes wrong track on gray wolf

PLF in the News

Best of the Blog

PLF welcomes new chair

Recent YouTube Videos

Keep in touch with PLF

With a highly successful year now in our rear view mirror, Pacific Legal Foundation is not letting up in holding overreaching government accountable to the rule of law. In fact, we haven't skipped a beat at all. With two Supreme Court cases already accepted for review in 2016, and several other petitions still to be acted on, this year could be our busiest ever in both the nation's courts and in the court of public opinion.

Supreme Court supremacy

The Supreme Court has just granted review in our tenth direct representation case -- Murr v. State of Wisconsin and St. Croix County, the second PLF case that justices will hear in 2016. In Murr, we represent the members of the Murr family who own property along the St. Croix River in Wisconsin. The case deals with the important question of what constitutes the "relevant parcel" for determining whether a restriction on the use of property violates the Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause. Read our news release.

Listen to our Courting Liberty podcast discussion of the Murr case.

No other freedom-based public interest legal organization is as busy or successful as PLF in bringing and winning cases at the Supreme Court of the United States. PLF attorneys have won seven consecutive victories at the High Court, and they have a chance to win number eight with the Court's acceptance of our Clean Water Act challenge, Hawkes Co., et al. v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and now our "relevant parcel" property rights case that the High Court granted last Friday.

Supreme Court opens door to Congress further evading democratic accountability

Matt Sissel

PLF is very disappointed that the Supreme Court yesterday denied review of our Obamacare challenge, Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. PLF's lawsuit, on behalf of Iraq War veteran and small business owner, Matt Sissel, targeted the tax penalty under the law's individual mandate as a violation of the Origination Clause of the Constitution.

In this PLF news release, PLF Principal Attorney Timothy Sandefur expressed his disappointment in the court's denial and said that "By allowing Congress to use procedural tricks to evade the constitutional rules, the Court has opened the door to Congress further evading democratic accountability for the laws it passes."

Supreme Court watch continues...
Despite the adverse decision in Sissel, and in addition to great news in Hawkes and Murr, it's possible the Supreme Court could still grant review in three other PLF cases:

Arrigoni Enterprises LLC v. Town of Durham -- PLF has asked the Supreme Court to reconsider a controversial precedent that denies landowners unobstructed access to federal court to defend their constitutional rights.

California Building Industry Assn. v. City of San Jose -- A constitutional challenge to San Jose's "Inclusionary Housing Ordinance," which penalizes homebuilders -- and raises overall home prices -- by forcing homebuilders to dedicate a percentage of units as below-market residences, or pay into a city housing fund.

William Shea

Shea v. Kerry -- PLF's challenge on behalf of State Department employee William Shea, seeks the Court's answer to this question: Should a federal bureaucracy be permitted to employ discriminatory, race-based preferences when it hires or promotes people, without first demonstrating such policies are responding to a specific, identified pattern of past discrimination?

For the latest breaking news on these and other PLF cases, go to our website at www.pacificlegal.org.

Commission takes wrong track on gray wolf

"The stupidest decision" the California Fish and Game Commission has ever made. That comment, by a dissenting commission member, came after the vote in December to list the gray wolf as "endangered" under the California Endangered Species Act. PLF Principal Attorney Damien M. Schiff describes the listing as "indefensible" and contrary to the federal government's assessment that the wolf's population is thriving throughout much of the West and the northern Midwest, and should be removed from the federal ESA list.

Damien's analysis that the Commission is flouting the facts and the requirements of the law is featured in this Sacramento Bee op-ed.

Listen to our Courting Liberty podcast.

"California's Endangered Species Act is expressly limited to native species and subspecies. Yet the gray wolves that have been added to the list are originally from Canada, representing a subspecies of wolf that was never present in California," Damien stated in the op-ed. "Never before had a listing been initiated on the basis of one animal's occasional wanderings into the state."

PLF is representing the California Cattlemen's Association in challenging the listing.

PLF in the News

News and information about PLF's litigation is making a significant impact in the court of public opinion. Here's a sampling of our recent news coverage in newspapers, magazines, broadcast outlets, and online news sources.

Jisser v. City of Palo Alto -- San Jose Mercury article.

Sissel v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services -- The Washington Times.

Wilson-Perlman v. Mackay -- PLF Attorney Caleb Trotter's op-ed in Reno Gazette Journal.

PLF's Johnson, Duarte, WOTUS challenges -- Omaha Daily Herald op-ed by House Speaker Paul Ryan.

Save Crystal River, Inc. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service -- PLF Attorney Christina Martin's interview on The Wall Street Journal's Opinion Journal television program.

Duarte v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers -- Pie N Politics article.

Best of the Blog

Read a recent blog post "Agency shop fees on the brink."

Posts on PLF's Liberty Blog bring you the latest news about key legal developments in PLF cases as well as commentary and analysis of relevant constitutional issues. Our pick for PLF's Best of the Blog this week is PLF Principal Attorney Deborah J. La Fetra's post, "Agency shop fees on the brink," with her analysis of the oral argument in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association at the Supreme Court.

PLF welcomes new chair

Greg Evans

We're pleased to welcome Greg Evans as the new chair of PLF's Board of Trustees. Greg, a Santa Cruz-based business executive and philanthropist, succeeds rancher-farmer John C. Harris, who served as Chair beginning in 2009.

Greg is President and General Manager of Evans Management Services, a firm operating approximately 40 mobilehome communities in California. Read more about Greg in our news release.

Thanks to you, PLF is on a roll in 2016! With more than 100 cases in more than 30 states, PLF is advancing the cause for liberty and keeping a tight leash on big government. Thanks for standing with us, our clients, and the Constitution in 2015. Together, we're going to make more history in defending our fundamental rights and liberties in 2016!