June 1, 2016
PLF wins all landowners the right to fight 'wetlands' regulators
    
An unprecedented victory for property owners' rights.

That's what happened this week when the U.S. Supreme Court delivered a resounding victory to Pacific Legal Foundation in U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes, PLF's historic case on behalf of landowners' access to justice.

In a groundbreaking decision, the justices unanimously sided with PLF and held that landowners have a right to seek judicial review when their property is designated as wetlands subject to federal jurisdiction under the Clean Water Act.

Hawkes U.S. Supreme Court Victory Reaction 
Hawkes U.S. Supreme Court Victory Reaction

PLF's Reed Hopper:  Landowners are no longer
at bureaucrats' mercy


At the Supreme Court:  PLF Principal Attorney M. Reed Hopper with client Kevin Pierce (center) and PLF Managing Attorney Mark Miller.  
"This ruling marks a long-awaited victory for individual liberty, property rights, and the rule of law," said PLF Principal Attorney M. Reed Hopper, who successfully argued the case in front of the High Court.  "For more than 40 years, millions of landowners nationwide have had no meaningful way to challenge wrongful application of the federal Clean Water Act to their land.  They have been put at the mercy of the government because land covered by the Act is subject to complete federal control.
 
"But now, all that changes with PLF's victory in Hawkes.  The Supreme Court ruled that wetlands 'jurisdictional determinations' can be immediately challenged in court.  Everyone who values property rights and access to justice should welcome this precedent-setting ruling."

Our clients say "thank you" to PLF!

PLF won this week's victory on behalf of all landowners nationwide, but our immediate clients were two family-owned and run businesses -- Hawkes Co., providing peat for golf courses and other sports turf applications; and Pierce Investment and LPF Properties, which own some peat land.  They have been prevented from using property in Marshall County, Minnesota, because the Corps issued a jurisdictional determination categorizing it as federally controlled wetlands.  PLF represents them free of charge, as with all our clients.

 
"This decision is an opportunity for my family and our ability to keep moving ahead as wetland dependent small business owners and job-providers," said Kevin Pierce, of Hawkes Co.  "We are now guaranteed the right to appeal to the courts against the Corps' jurisdictional wetlands decision, that doesn't follow environmental policy or law, which harms our wetland dependent business.  Today's precedent-setting ruling also helps landowners across the country, because it says all property owners deserve their day in court if agency decrees put them in peril.

Listen to
 Jim Burling and PLF's clients discuss this victory.
"I want to thank Pacific Legal Foundation for helping me win this victory for my family, and for all landowners, large and small, to have access to the courts when their rights are at risk."

"This victory guarantees the rights of millions of property owners nationwide," said Reed Hopper.  "As we argued to the court -- and as the court agreed today -- when landowners are confronted with federal claims of jurisdiction over their property, they must have their right to their day in court.  So today's ruling is a triumph for property rights, for simple fairness, and for the rule of law."

The case is U.S. Army Corps of Engineers v. Hawkes.  More information, including the Supreme Court's ruling, a PLF video, photos, blog post, PLF's briefs, and a podcast, may be found at:  www.pacificlegal.org.

PLF's donors make our work possible!

The historic ruling in Hawkes marks PLF's eighth straight victory at the U.S. Supreme Court in direct-representation litigation for liberty and limited government -- an unsurpassed record among broad-based pro-freedom legal organizations.



It's you, PLF's donors, who make these achievements possible!  THANK YOU.  Please keep supporting PLF generously, so PLF can keep "rescuing liberty" -- from county courts to the highest court in the land!

Regards,

John M. Groen
Interim President and
  General Counsel
Pacific Legal Foundation
(916) 419-7111
 

Keep in touch with PLF on the latest developments - subscribe today!
Recent YouTube Videos
 
 
 
Visit us at: