Pacific Legal Foundation

Pacific Legal Foundation We sue the government—and we win.

06/04/2026

Napa has put the Hoopes family through so much and is now doubling down.

The County knows we have a strong argument, but they are rushing to bury Lindsay and her business with fines before the courts have a chance to evaluate whether they should have been imposed in the first place.

06/02/2026

Michigan counties have repeatedly seized people's property, over often miniscule tax debts, wiping out homeowner equity, and keeping the profits.

The latest example is the Pung family, whose home was foreclosed on by Isabella County over a disputed $2,000 tax debt—even after a Michigan tax tribunal ruled they did not owe the tax. The county sold their $194,400 home at auction for $76,000, returned only the sale proceeds, and left the family short about $118,000 in lost equity. The buyer then quickly resold the property for nearly its full value.

The Pungs’ case, argued before the U.S. Supreme Court in February 2026, asks whether the Constitution requires the government to compensate homeowners for the full fair market value of property taken in tax foreclosure, rather than merely whatever price the government receives at auction.

BREAKING: California's SB 54 forces venture capital firms to collect information from their founders about their race, e...
06/01/2026

BREAKING: California's SB 54 forces venture capital firms to collect information from their founders about their race, ethnicity, gender identity, and sexual orientation — then report it all for the State to publish. We’re representing the 1517 Fund in a lawsuit to stop it.

Danielle Strachman and Michael Gibson built the 1517 Fund to bet on overlooked talent — dropouts, renegade scientists, builders with big ideas and no pedigree. They screen for potential, not identity. SB 54 demands they start sorting founders by race and sexuality instead.

The First Amendment protects your right to speak AND stay silent. Forcing a business to gather and report deeply private data it would never otherwise collect is compelled speech. And scoring each fund on its portfolio's "diversity," pressures investors to consider race, not merit — a clear Equal Protection violation.

We're representing the 1517 Fund at no cost because sorting people by race is never a neutral act. California enacted SB 54 under the guise of fighting discrimination, but the law itself creates a public pressure campaign that favors certain races.

Honolulu is charging 83-year-old Sandra May with $600,000 in fines over an accidental violation of the city’s short-term...
05/29/2026

Honolulu is charging 83-year-old Sandra May with $600,000 in fines over an accidental violation of the city’s short-term rental policy while she was in the hospital.

They put a lien on her home and cut off her access to basic city services, even to renew her driver’s license. We filed a lawsuit to stop these excessive fines.

Honolulu is using this ordinance as a money-making scheme and violating property owners’ constitutional rights in the process. These exorbitant fines are not remotely proportionate to Sandra’s alleged offense.

Sandra has a constitutional right to due process when facing unjust punishments like these excessive fines. That’s why we’re taking Honolulu to court.

Photo courtesy of Michelle Mishina

BREAKING: California is forcing the owners of two private shopping centers to allow an “eMANcipation” activist to urge l...
05/27/2026

BREAKING: California is forcing the owners of two private shopping centers to allow an “eMANcipation” activist to urge local men to flout child support orders — on their own property, against their will. Yesterday, we petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to end nearly 50 years of state-compelled speech.

Majestic Realty bans soliciting and political advocacy at their shopping centers. Alex Salazar asked for an exception for his advocacy they “are not legally or financially responsible for supporting a child that a woman chooses to have” outside marriage.

A California court ordered them to host him anyway because of PruneYard Shopping Center v. Robins, a Supreme Court precedent, which lets the state force private businesses open to the public to platform any speaker who shows up.

But this isn’t fair. No one should be forced to platform speakers on their private property. That’s compelled speech and a violation of the owners’ First Amendment rights. Also, if the government wants to control your property and who you allow on it, then the Constitution demands that you’re paid for that taking.

The First Amendment protects your right to speak — and your right not to. We're representing Majestic Realty at no cost and asking the Supreme Court to overturn PruneYard and put an end to decades of state-compelled speech.
🔗 https://pacificlegal.org/case/salazar-majestic-california-compelled-speech/

05/26/2026

The Declaration of Independence is America’s first great dissent.

In this first podcast season, examines how the Declaration’s words were incorporated into our governing document, the Constitution, and how those promises have been shaped—sometimes eviscerated—by Supreme Court decisions.

First episode available now, link in bio!

05/21/2026

The Forest Service banned road construction across 60 million acres of national forest, but it’s the responsibility of Congress to determine how the US uses federal lands.
Today PLF’s Mark Miller testified before the House Committee on Natural Resources about the Roadless Rule.
PLF is representing Inside Passage Electric Cooperative as they challenge the Roadless Rule, which is blocking them from providing sustainable geothermal and hydroelectric energy to replace the expensive diesel Alaska’s remote communities rely on.
Without the ability to build new roads, IPEC’s only option would be to build via helicopter, increasing the cost of one project from $17.5 million to $65 million.

05/20/2026

Ever heard that AI uses a bottle of water per query? Turns out that’s not true.

The same amount of water used to train Chat-GPT 3 creates only 100lbs of beef. That’s less than the average family of four eats per year.

Police raided Amy Hadley's home, tear-gassed it, punched holes in the walls, and destroyed irreplaceable family photos —...
05/19/2026

Police raided Amy Hadley's home, tear-gassed it, punched holes in the walls, and destroyed irreplaceable family photos — $16,000 in damage chasing a man who was never inside. Then they refused to pay a cent. We’re urging the Supreme Court to hold the government accountable.

Despite security footage proving the suspect had never been inside, police handcuffed Amy Hadley's 15-year-old son and hauled him away, then lobbed 30 tear gas canisters into her empty house and ransacked it, then left her family sleeping in their car.

The Fifth Amendment states that no one can “be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.” This means that if the government takes or breaks your property for the public good, it must pay you for it.

The court hearing Hadley’s case attempted to draw a distinction between damage from “police power” and other instances of a government taking. But the Constitution doesn’t list any exceptions to the Takings Clause. We're asking the Supreme Court to accept the Institute for Justice's case and defend Americans’ property.

05/14/2026

What's wrong with Hoopes Vineyard?

Nothing — but that didn't stop Napa County from labeling the winery's routine operations a "public nuisance."
We're helping the Hoopes family fight back against Napa's regulatory overreach.

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