The Pacific Legal Foundation issued the following comment today regarding Judge Weiner's dissenting opinion in Severance v. Patterson, which was decided yesterday by the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals. PLF attorneys represented property owner Carol Severance:
Pacific Legal Foundation is proud to have devoted more than a quarter century to the protection of the fundamental human right to own private property. We have fought for that right in state and federal courts across this country, because we believe, as America's founding fathers did, that private property is the guardian of every other right. We do not regard our mission as "quixotic," or as an inevitable failure. On the contrary, at a time when the right of individuals to keep and enjoy the fruits of their labor is under attack like never before in this country, Pacific Legal Foundation is proud to stand as one of the leading champions of this fundamental constitutional right. And we believe that this nation is poised to reaffirm its commitment to the rights of all Americans to work for an honest living, to keep what they earn, and to pursue happiness for themselves and their families. Some may regard this cause as futile or silly. We regard it as our duty as attorneys who have sworn to defend the Constitution of the United States—and as grateful inheritors of a legacy of liberty from previous generations of Americans.
More on the case at The Volokh Conspiracy.
Update: Ms. Severance herself has also published a comment at The Volokh Conspiracy.
