In his timely new book, James S. Burling traces the government’s missteps and misguided policies that have caused America’s homeless crisis and affordable housing challenges.

Here’s what’s on The Docket.

Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis  

In Nowhere to Live: The Hidden Story of America’s Housing Crisis, James S. Burling, a seasoned property rights attorney with over 40 years of experience, explores the roots of today’s housing crisis. Through vivid storytelling and historical analysis, Burling examines pivotal moments from the early-20th-century housing developments and the ill-fated “urban renewal” movement of the 1950s. The book reveals how most well-intentioned government interventions have compounded the problem rather than resolving it.

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Supreme Court to review the constitutionality of CPSC in-house adjudication process

Jamie Leach, founder of a small business, Leachco, is asking the Supreme Court to hold the CPSC accountable to the Constitution’s promise of separation of powers. The Commission’s in-house adjudication process allows its own members to serve as prosecutor, judge, jury, and appellate court, undermining fundamental due process rights. “We’re fighting for our right to a fair trial and to protect our business from arbitrary government actions,” Jamie says.

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New York Post: Why both Republicans and Democrats are failing at solving America’s housing crisis 

California Governor Gavin Newsom ordered California’s burgeoning homeless camps to be cleared out. In New York, Governor Kathy Hochul attempted to suspend the state’s “right to shelter” while spending millions more dollars housing the homeless. Neither of these plans will work because neither addresses the real problems causing America’s housing shortage.

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Surge in squatting demands stricter legislation  

Pacific Legal Foundation’s new research report, Locking Squatters Out: How States Can Protect Property Owners, reveals a significant rise in squatting incidents since 2019. Unfortunately, property owners are finding it extremely difficult to remove squatters from their property. Law enforcement agencies, wary of escalating violence or getting embroiled in legal complications, frequently advise property owners to file eviction cases rather than taking immediate action to remove squatters. “It is long overdue that we start treating squatters like what they actually are—trespassers,” said PLF senior attorney Mark Miller. 

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Department of Labor’s minimum salary rulemaking under fire

Our Constitution ensures that there must always be limits on an agency’s power to make rules affecting our lives and liberties. This founding principle of separation of powers ensures that laws are made by the people’s representatives in Congress, not by unelected bureaucrats in Washington, DC. But believe it or not, federal agencies, like the U.S. Department of Labor, often flout these foundational precepts. For one small business owner in Texas, Robert Mayfield, a new Department of Labor rule is having unfortunate consequences. Now, he’s fighting back.

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This landmark Supreme Court case affirmed that free speech is for all ages

In the 1969 case Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School District, the Supreme Court ruled that K-12 students have free speech rights too. After planning a peaceful protest against the Vietnam War, three students were suspended from school. The students sued in court for their right to free expression under the First Amendment. Tinker’s legacy is just as important today as it was then, as one PLF client is finding out firsthand.

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