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State News
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 “The
Rights of Religious Institutions Facing Zoning and Historic Preservation”
- By Roman P. Storzer, Storzer & Greene, P.L.L.C. Washington,
D.C.; Twelfth Annual National Conference on Private Property
Rights (PRFA, Albany, N.Y., October 18, 2008)
In no other area is there as much restriction on religious
exercise, a First Amendment freedom, than in the land use context,
with possibly the exception of prisoners. The federal Religious
Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act, RLUIPA, targets landmarking
and land use laws. Zoning boards no longer hold all the power.
Churches, mosques and temples can go to court and get redress
under a relatively strong standard of review.
More on this
topic: Religious
Institutions—National
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 “Testimony
By Carol W. LaGrasse, President, Property Rights Foundation of
America, Before the Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests and
Public Lands of the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House
of Representatives Regarding H. R. 1286, Washington-Rochambeau
Revolutionary Route National Historic Trail Designation Act,
October 30, 2007”
The proposed 600-mile Washington-Rochambeau Historic Trail
through nine states from Rhode Island to Virginia poses a threat
to private property rights because of the National Park Service’s
pattern of secrecy, lack of true public participation, piecemeal
development, use of municipalities and non-profit agencies as
false fronts, and use of eminent domain (directly, indirectly
through local municipalities, and later to widen trails). Amendments
to H.R. 1286 are proposed to eliminate these deficiencies.
More on this
topic: Trails—National
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 “National
& International Land Use Planning” - Peyton Knight,
Director of Environmental & Regulatory Affairs, The National
Center for Public Policy Research, Washington, D.C., Eleventh
Annual National Conference on Private Property Rights (PRFA,
Albany, N.Y., October 13, 2007)
A National Heritage Area facilitates national land use planning
as a preservation-driven congressional pork-barrel designation
created in conjunction with the National Park Service and private
interest groups to influence decisions over local land use to
preserve natural, historical, cultural, educational, scenic,
and recreational resources. UNESCO World Heritage Site designations
are an international tool to push land use restrictions on the
sites and land surrounding them.
More on this
topic: National
Park Service
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- “Property
Rights Foundation of America Asks U.S. Supreme Court for Fair
Hearing for Litigants” - PRFA, August 31, 2004
Chander and Ashima Kant’s house worth $199,000
was disposed of by Montgomery, Md., for $6,020 to pay a disputed
bill, but the courts haven’t allowed the Kants to
have a hearing on their claim of discrimination. PRFA has filed
a friend of the court brief before the U.S. Supreme Court because
the federal rules are meant to allow litigants to bring issues
before the court so that they are prevented from losing suits
where they would otherwise win.
More on this
topic: Private
Property — National
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- “Turning
the Tables — ‘Good Guys’ Using Environmental Law”
- By Kathleen Benedetto, National Wilderness Institute, Washington,
D.C., Speech at the Sixth Annual New York Conference on Private
Property Rights (PRFA, November 16, 2002)
Federal agencies fail to abide by environmental law that everybody
else has to adhere to. NWI’s Endangered Species Act
lawsuit complains that the EPA and other federal agencies are
failing to protect the bald eagle and the short-nosed sturgeon
during construction of the Woodrow Wilson Bridge over the Potomac.
Their Clean Water Act lawsuit charges that the U.S. Army Corps
of Engineers allows the Washington Aqueduct to discharge 200,000
tons sludge annually into the Potomac.
More on this
topic: Endangered
Species & Wildlife — National
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