Supreme Court Victory for Edward Poitevent, Property Rights

WASHINGTON, DC — Private property rights throughout the entire nation are more secure today thanks to the U.S. Supreme Court’s unanimous ruling in Weyerhaeuser Co. v. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Edward Poitevent

The justices all agreed that federal regulators overstepped their authority when they declared 1,500 acres of private land in Louisiana as a critical habitat for a frog that can’t survive there. PLF client Edward Poitevent and his family own nearly 95 percent of the land in question and they were parties to the case argued before the Supreme Court on October 1.

“This was a grossly unfair and inappropriate taking of private land for no purpose, no benefit to the frog, and without any reason or common sense behind it,” Edward says. “But when you’re in for the fight of your life, you don’t give up. It’s astounding to find out the highest court in the land has not only your back, but the backs of all American landowners.”

“The Supreme Court essentially told the federal government, ‘If you want to give critical habitat status to private land, you have to prove the  land in question is actually “habitat” for the species in question,’” explains PLF attorney Mark Miller. “The nation’s hardworking property owners can rest easier tonight knowing government-sponsored land grabs just became a lot more difficult.”

The victory is PLF’s eleventh at the High Court, and third win in 2018. More information can be found at pacificlegal.org/gopherfrog.

About Pacific Legal Foundation

Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) is the nation’s leading public interest legal organization devoted to preserving individual rights and economic freedom. Since 1973, donor-supported PLF has successfully litigated for limited government, private property rights, and free enterprise in the nation’s highest courts.