September 21, 2016
Our watchdog role in checking the power of government has never been more important.  In an instant, and without any public notice, government bureaucrats can change the rules of the game, obliterating the basic rights of business entrepreneurs and other citizens.  And when they do, PLF is front and center, taking the legal battle to those who think the constitutional limits on their power don't apply to them.

Standing up to a government union giveaway
 
National Federation of Independent Business v. Occupational Safety & Health Administration (OSHA)
     
Small business owners in America have it tough enough without the government meddling in their business by giving union activists power to promote union organizing.  But that's what the Obama administration has done by corrupting the inspection process at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).  For decades, OSHA has allowed an employee of a business to accompany government inspectors to check for potential health and safety lapses -- what is known as the "walk-around" inspection rule.  That's perfectly appropriate.

 
Listen to our Courting Liberty podcast discussion of the case.  
But under a recently imposed change by the Obama administration, OSHA inspectors now allow outside union officials to stand in for employee representatives on these walk-throughs -- even if the business is not unionized, and even if the union intruder has no specialized knowledge of how the business functions or any practical understanding of safety protocol.

Business owners aren't taking this abuse of their basic rights lying down.  PLF attorneys have joined the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB) in suing OSHA, challenging this sweeping giveaway to powerful unions. 
 
"Unfortunately, the Obama administration has politicized this process by allowing unions to piggyback onto workplace inspections for an entirely different goal:  recruiting new dues-paying members," states this op-ed by Karen Harned, executive director of NFIB's Small Business Legal Center, and PLF Principal Attorney Damien Schiff that appeared in The Washington Times.  "As our lawsuit argues, in an open, representative democracy, this kind of government-by-decree is not allowable."

The case is NFIB v. OSHA.  More information, including a news release, the complaint, and an explanatory blog post, is available at:  www.pacificlegal.org.  Read NFIB's Underground Regulation report.   
 

Learn more about this case in our news release.
California city creates fine mess
 
Cefali v. City of San Juan Capistrano  
     
Michael Cefali, a resident of San Juan Capistrano, in southern California, was stunned when he was ticketed for advertising his car for sale on a street in front of his home.  A sign in his car advertising a garage sale would have been OK, even one promoting a political candidate, but city officials prohibit for-sale signs in vehicles parked on city streets.

"The Supreme Court has repeatedly said that government cannot favor some messages over others based on their content," stated PLF Principal Attorney Larry Salzman.  "Yet that's what San Juan Capistrano is doing by censoring 'for-sale' signs in parked cars."

 
 
Listen to Principal Attorney Larry G. Salzman discuss this case on the Lou Desmond Show. 
Cefali, who studied constitutional law at PLF's Liberty Clinic at Chapman University, knew his First Amendment rights had been thrown under the bus, so he sued with PLF's help.

"As someone who loves the Constitution and the Bill of Rights -- and who studied them carefully in law school -- I could not ignore the city's violations when I became aware of them in a personal way, right in the pocketbook," Cefali said in this PLF news release.

The case is Cefali v. City of San Juan Capistrano.  More information, including the complaint, a litigation backgrounder, a video, and a blog post, may be found at PLF's website. 
 
Learn more about this case in our press release and podcast.
An ode to the Constitution
     
For 43 years, PLF has remained true to our mission -- to ardently defend the Constitution in the nation's courts.  As the cases above demonstrate clearly, government must be held in check if we are to retain the basic rights and liberties enshrined in the Constitution.  Earlier this month -- on September 17 -- we celebrated the anniversary of the signing of the Constitution in 1787.


 

Our tribute to Constitution Day included two videos -- one filmed at Independence Hall in Philadelphia, and an extended interview with former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese, one of our Constitution's greatest champions.
 
 

 
 
Learn more on PLF's Constitution page, in a press release, op-ed, and blog post.
 


The power PLF possesses to haul government officials into court to answer to the rule of law is owed to you and other PLF supporters.  You're the reason we exist.  You are the reason why PLF has been so successful as America's preeminent defender of the Constitution.  On Constitution Day, and on every other day of the year, we are proud and honored to partner with you in standing strong for liberty.

Regards,

Steven D. Anderson
President and CEO
Pacific Legal Foundation
(916) 419-7111
 

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