Napa Wine Copters
The owners of several vineyards claim in a federal class action that Napa County’s restrictions on helicopters are unconstitutional and will severely hamper their business.
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Houston Halts Opening of First US Robot Brothel
The Houston City Council on Wednesday revised city law to prevent a Canadian purveyor of sex robots that plans to open its first U.S. shop from offering customers, as one councilman put it, a “try-it-before-you-buy” option.
Read moreSeventh Circuit Nixes Local Right-to-Work Law
Creating a circuit split, the Seventh Circuit ruled Friday that the National Labor Relations Act does not allow local municipalities to pass right-to-work laws.
Read morePipeline Loses Challenge to City Oil Ordinance
A federal judge upheld a Maine city’s ban on the bulk loading of crude oil onto tankers in its harbor Friday, derailing a pipeline operator’s plan to reverse the flow of oil along its conduit.
Read moreJudge Blocks San Diego RV Parking Restriction
A federal judge has blocked San Diego from enforcing a municipal code outlawing living in vehicles, a win for disabled residents who have been ticketed and had their vehicles impounded because they are homeless.
Read moreJudge OKs Local Fireworks Restrictions in Iowa
A federal judge in Des Moines dismissed a lawsuit by a Nebraska fireworks retailer that claimed four Iowa cities put too many restrictions on fireworks sales in their communities.
Read moreTexas High Court Strikes Down Local Bag Bans
The Texas Supreme Court on Friday upheld an appeals court ruling that disallows local governments from banning single-use plastic bags, finding that state law bars ordinances restricting the sale or use of containers.
Read moreNJ Cap on Sewage Costs Drives Constitutional Challenge
A New Jersey sewage company claims in a federal complaint Wednesday that it will be bankrupted by a new law that caps how much it can bill towns and villages.
Read moreResidents Sue SoCal City for Bucking Sanctuary State Law
Residents sued the Orange County city of Los Alamitos on Wednesday, fighting the City Council’s new ordinance exempting the town from California’s sanctuary state law.
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The Small Property Owners Association—San Jose and 17 of its members brought a federal complaint against San Jose, challenging a “Rent Registry” ordinance that asks intrusive questions about each “rent-stabilized unit” in the city, in violation of the Fourth Amendment.
Read moreAppeals Court Hears Illinois Right-to-Work Controversy
At a Tuesday hearing, the Seventh Circuit seemed unmoved by a conservative challenge to labor laws in Illinois, one of the last union-friendly states in the Rust Belt, in a lawsuit seeking to legalize local right-to-work ordinances.
Read moreProfessor Tries to Sell Conservatives on Local Environmental Rules
At a time when the Trump administration is working to cut back federal environmental rules, a professor from the University of Houston Law Center says state and local governments should take on part of the regulatory role.
Read moreJustices to Resolve Procedural Issue in Property-Rights Cases
A dispute involving private cemeteries is headed to the U.S. Supreme Court, after the justices agreed Monday to decide whether a property owner must first exhaust all state court remedies before filing a federal lawsuit asserting an unconstitutional taking of land.
Read moreChurches Challenge Wisconsin City’s LGBT Ordinance
Five churches and a Christian radio station sued a Wisconsin city, claiming its recently passed nondiscrimination ordinance protecting transgender residents should not apply to them.
Read moreChicago Suburb Sued Over Ties to Right-to-Work Group
A northern Chicago suburb that saw a federal judge strike down its “right-to-work” ordinance faces a new legal challenge from a union member claiming his taxes unlawfully funded a lobbying group pushing for the measure.
Read moreSeattle Faces Challenge to Ride-Hail Unionizing Ordinance
An appellate panel grilled attorneys representing Seattle in a hearing over the constitutionality of the city’s first-of-its-kind ordinance allowing Uber and Lyft drivers to unionize, repeatedly asking why the rules didn’t violate antitrust laws.
Read moreHouston Strip Club Claims City Favors Competitors
A Houston strip club whose dancers must abide by a “no-touch” rule claims in a federal antitrust lawsuit that the city set it up to fail when it authorized topless lap dances at 16 rival clubs exempt from the rule through a settlement.
Read moreHouston OKs On-Site Trailers for Hurricane Victims
The Houston City Council voted Wednesday to suspend restrictions against people living in trailers, RVs and shipping containers on their property, to help the more than 4,000 residents still displaced by Hurricane Harvey flooding.
Read moreFree the Nipple Faces Off Against Fort Collins at 10th Circuit
The 10th Circuit on Wednesday heard arguments to decide whether the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause applies to women’s nipples – at least as far as a city’s ban on showing them in public is concerned.
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