Courting Liberty

PLF's Harold Johnson, PLF principal attorney Reed Hopper and Director of Litigation Jim Burling discuss PLF's WOTUS case being heard by the U.S. Supreme Court. Specifically the question raised is which court get's to hear if the waters of the United States rule is appropriate or not. In the case that the High Court accepted — National Association of Manufacturers v. U.S. Department of Defense — the Sixth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals adopted a restrictive approach to judicial relief, allowing only federal courts of appeals to hear WOTUS challenges.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Harold Johnson interviews PLF attorney Christina Martin and Lisa Moore, the President of Save Crystal River, about how the US Fish and Wildlife Service is dragging their feet on down listing Florida's West Indian Manatee. After a population comeback the USFWS advised the manatee be delisted to "threatened" in 2007. The classification has yet to become official.

Director of Litigation at Pacific Legal Foundation, Jim Burling, talks with PLF attorney's Larry Salzman and David Breemer about how PLF will take on property rights in 2017. Salzman also touches on economic liberty issues and Burling gives an update on environmental affairs. All three guests discuss their thoughts on what the PLF fight will look like under a new President.

Director of Litigation at Pacific Legal Foundation, Jim Burling, interviews PLF General counsel John Groen, Principal Attorney Reed Hopper, and PLF's President Steven Anderson about 2016 highlights and what to look forward to in 2017. PLF attorneys and clients have declared victory in several important cases in 2016. Going toe-to-toe against powerful bureaucracies like the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the Tahoe Regional Planning Agency, PLF has drawn on the bravery of our clients and the financial muscle of our donors to defend Americans’ fundamental constitutional rights.

PLF's Harold Johnson interviews PLF Staff Attorney Anastasia Boden about a brief that was filed in the Oregon Supreme Court on behalf of her client David Hansen. Hansen, an architectural designer working on getting his architecture license in Oregon, created some marketing drawings that were meant to help a property development company attract retailers to developments. The drawings were not "plans" and couldn't be used for construction. However, Hansen and his partner were fined $10,000 each for purportedly practicing architecture without a license.

PLF's Chief Communications Officer Robert Krauter interviews Todd Gaziano, Executive Director of PLF’s DC Center, and PLF attorney Jonathan Wood about the Antiquities Act and what it means for National Monuments throughout the state. The Antiquities Act is an act passed by the United States Congress and signed into law by Theodore Roosevelt in 1906. This law gives the President of the United States the authority to, by presidential proclamation, create national monuments from public lands to protect significant natural, cultural, or scientific features. The Act has been used, and abused, over a hundred times since its passage.

PLF Principal Attorney Joshua Thompson gives an update about his case, White v. VICC, involving a young black student that was denied attending his school of choice because of the color of his skin. Filed in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Missouri, La,Shikea White's lawsuit targets race-based restrictions that prohibit African-American students who reside in St. Louis County from transferring to public schools in the City of St. Louis, while allowing students who are not African-American to make such transfers.

​Harold Johnson of Pacific Legal Foundation interviews PLF Senior Staff Attorney Anthony Francois and PLF's Public Outreach Coordinator Ashley Indrieri about PLF's new environmental education campaign to stop starving farms and wildlife.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Harold Johnson interviews PLF Attorney Caleb Trotter and his client Peggy Fontenot about her challenge in Fontenot v. Pruitt. Peggy, a renowned American Indian artist and a member of a state-recognized tribe, cannot market her beaded jewelry, photographs and other art as “Indian Made” in Oklahoma because state law prohibits anyone other than a member of a federally recognized tribe from marketing their art as “Indian Made.” PLF argues that the Oklahoma law violates the First and Fourteenth Amendments, as well as the Commerce and Due Process clauses.

Pacific Legal Foundation's John Groen, Todd Gaziano, Jim Burling and Tony Francois talk about the administrative state, it's history, and reflect on how some of PLF's recent wins have affected it. We have seen a disturbing and dangerous trend of government agencies creating their own rules and acting as judge and jury. Our podcast discussion describes how PLF intends to build upon the existing precedents that strengthen judicial review of administrative agency decisions, and specifically to expand access to federal courts for all Americans confronting arbitrary and abusive agency actions.

Harold Johnson interviews PLF Principal Attorney Brian Hodges about a case out of West Hollywood where the city demanded a roughly $540,000 fee to be used for “affordable housing” as a condition of a couple’s building permits. Shelah and Jonathan Lehrer-Graiwer thought they could help meet the housing demand in West Hollywood when they purchased two adjacent homes in the early 2000s, with a dream of building 11 condos on the lots. The city even praised the “superior architectural design” of the project, and noted that it would provide “11 families with a high quality living environment” while “helping the city achieve its share of the regional housing need.” The city then slapped them with a fee that would be roughly one third of the project’s total income.

PLF Director of Communications Harold Johnson is joined by PLF Atlantic Center Managing Attorney Mark Miller to discuss PLF's latest litigation for our signature cause; the defense of everyone's property rights. The City of Marathon has robbed a family of constitutional property rights, and deprived family members of a legacy from their late parents, by designating their nine-acre island as a bird preserve, or “rookery,” prohibiting the family from building a home or anything else on the vacant property. The city is violating the Constitution by refusing to pay the family a meaningful form of “just compensation,” as the Fifth Amendment’s Takings Clause demands when government seizes private property or prohibits any economically beneficial use of it.

The State of California prosecuted PLF Client Brandon Rinehart for using a suction dredge — basically a vacuum — to mine for gold on his claim in a federal forest. The state has banned the use of this equipment everywhere, including on federal property. The only means available for the miners who hold these claims is using a shovel and pan, which isn’t commercially practicable.

PLF Director of Communications Harold Johnson is joined by PLF Staff Attorney Anastasia Boden to discuss how an Alabama law might hurt craft brewers while snooping on those who purchase craft beer. Bureaucrats in Alabama are now considering an intrusive, creepy plan to treat craft beer consumers like suspects on a government “watch” list, all in the name of stifling competition and economic liberty.

Harold Johnson of Pacific Legal Foundation interviews PLF attorney Wencong Fa and his client Robert Bennie about their case, Bennie v. Munn. The case is centered around the violation of Bennie's First Amendment rights and the regulatory retaliation that ensued after he made controversial statements about President Obama in the local newspaper.

Pacific Legal Foundation Principal Attorney Joshua Thompson interviews College for Public Interest Law Fellows Jeremy and Johanna Talcott about their first month working at PLF. Since 1979, PLF has been offering fellowships to outstanding law school graduates who desired hands-on experience in public interest litigation. Since that time, over 70 young attorneys have passed through the program on their way to private practice, public agency law, or a permanent position with Pacific Legal Foundation.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Director of Litigation Jim Burling talks with PLF President and CEO Steven Anderson, General Counsel John Groen, Principal Attorney Damien Schiff, Senior Staff Attorney Anthony Francois and Executive Director of PLF’s DC Center Todd Gaziano about PLF's upcoming term of the U.S. Supreme Court.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Harold Johnson interviews Karen Harned, Executive Director of the National Federation of Independent Business (NFIB), and PLF Principal Attorney Damien Schiff about Pacific Legal Foundation's case challenging the “union walk-around” rule that OSHA has promulgated in violation of the Occupational Health and Safety Act, as well as the Administrative Procedure Act.

Pacific Legal Foundation's Harold Johnson interviews PLF principal attorney Larry Salzman and his client Michael Cefali about a freedom of speech case in San Juan Capistrano, California where Cefali was ticketed for placing a "For Sale" sign on his car which was parked on a public street in front of his home.

PLF Director of Communications Harold Johnson is joined by PLF Principal Attorney Larry Salzman to discuss a recent victory for beachfront property owner Eric Wills. An Orange County Superior Court ruled in favor of the San Clemente family whose right to protect their beachfront mobile home with a seawall was under assault by the California Coastal Commission.