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Plus, PLF clients score a hat trick in Florida, Nevada, and Rhode Island...
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UCSD bows to federal lawsuit challenging its race-based scholarship program; PLF clients score a hat trick in Florida, Nevada, and Rhode Island; plus, a first-of-its-kind research report sheds light on the secret system of administrative law judge exchanges.
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UCSD scholarship open to all students after civil rights challenge
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When California voters passed Proposition 209 in 1996—banning discrimination in public education—UCSD outsourced its Black Alumni Scholarship Fund (BASF) to an off-campus nonprofit. Although BASF was nominally private, it maintained an inextricable partnership with UCSD.
In July, we sued the university under the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871—a Reconstruction-era civil rights law designed to stop conspiracies between government officials and private groups that deprive Americans of equal protection. Earlier this week, UCSD fully capitulated. The university’s partner, San Diego Foundation, eliminated all restrictions based on race, renamed the Black Alumni Scholarship Fund, and opened eligibility to all qualified students.
“This victory proves that the Constitution’s promise of equality before the law still has teeth,” said PLF attorney Jack Brown. “When faced with the law, UCSD and its affiliates had no choice but to retreat.”
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Federal judge denies City of Largo’s motion to dismiss, allowing PLF lawsuit to proceed
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In May, we filed a federal lawsuit challenging the City of Largo, Florida, for turning its fining power into a money-making scheme after our client, Don Bourgeois, accumulated $590,000 in fines for minor code violations. Although he was assured the mountain of debt would be forgiven once he completed all the necessary repairs, his property was eventually seized and sold at auction for just 20% of its appraised value.
Earlier this week, the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Florida denied Largo’s motion to dismiss, allowing Don’s case to move forward. While his fight isn’t over, the ruling marks a significant step toward holding the City accountable.
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Rhode Island homeowner secures preliminary injunction in beachfront property case
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After a 2023 storm damaged his property, PLF client David Welch sought a permit from the Rhode Island Coastal Resources Management Council for essential repairs. The Council approved the permit but imposed sweeping conditions—requiring David to grant the public unlimited access to parts of his property and to allow warrantless government inspections at any time.
In June, we partnered with David to file a lawsuit challenging the Council’s unconstitutional conditions, and on Wednesday, a Rhode Island judge granted David a preliminary injunction—noting that the State’s attempt to circumvent her 2024 ruling
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striking down Rhode Island’s beach seizure law was an offense to the judicial process.
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District court rules for PLF’s client, allowing challenge to Nevada’s real estate rules to proceed
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Derek Eisenberg has been offering flexible and affordable real-estate services across the United States since 1995. As technology has progressed, he’s leaned into a virtual business model, allowing him to serve clients in the more-than two dozen states where he’s licensed without leaving his native New Jersey.
But Nevada law requires real estate brokers to maintain an in-state office—effectively barring out-of-state professionals like Derek, who can perform their work entirely online. In December 2024, we filed a federal lawsuit on Derek’s behalf challenging Nevada’s protectionist policy, and late last week, a district court dealt a decisive blow—rejecting the State’s motion to dismiss Derek’s case.
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Sharing administrative judges undermines the Constitution
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PLF’s new, first-of-its-kind research report—written by Competitive Enterprise Institute research fellow Stone Washington—documents the lending and borrowing of administrative law judges (ALJs) between agencies across the administrative state. Stone sampled 960 ALJs across 421 federal agencies and found that more than a quarter—267, or 28%—moved from agency to agency to adjudicate cases.
The findings challenge claims that ALJs’ subject-matter expertise makes them better suited than Article III judges for agency-specific disputes—especially given that nearly three in ten ALJs rotate among agencies. The report also dives into the question of accountability: If an ALJ is loaned to another agency, are they serving at the pleasure of the lending or the borrowing agency?
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