Lou Dobbs Tonight will feature PLF’s Sackett v. EPA Supreme Court case

Sacramento, CA; September 15, 2011: This evening, the Lou Dobbs Tonight show on Fox Business Channel is scheduled to feature Pacific Legal Foundation's property rights case that is now before the Supreme Court: Sackett v. United States Environmental Protection Agency.

Lou Dobbs Tonight: airs on the Fox Business Channel at 7:00 p.m. EDT, 4:00 p.m. PDT. The Sackett case will be featured at 7:30 EDT, 4:30 PDT.

Host Lou Dobbs will interview PLF clients Mike and Chantell Sackett, of Priest Lake in the Idaho Panhandle. They are seeking to establish the right to judicial appeal when EPA effectively takes over property by declaring it "wetlands."

Also featured will be PLF Senior Staff Attorney Damien M. Schiff, who will argue the case at the U.S. Supreme Court.

Victims of EPA bullying seek the right to take EPA to court

In 2005, the Sacketts bought a small parcel in Priest Lake with the intent to build a three-bedroom family home. The lot is in a residential area, and neighbors have built their own houses. The Sacketts obtained all the necessary permits to build, and started laying gravel. But then they were blindsided by EPA, which came in and claimed the property is "wetlands" — and ordered them to return it to the agency's liking, on pain of fines now totaling millions of dollars.

The Sacketts wanted to contest the claim that their land is "wetlands" — but the Ninth Circuit ruled that they can't get their day in court unless they first go through a years-long "wetlands" permit process, which would likely be denied — and could cost more than the value of their land!

The Supreme Court has accepted the Sacketts' case, and oral argument will be held some time in early 2012. Represented by attorneys with PLF, the Sacketts are asking the High Court a fundamental question: When property owners are hit with a land grab by EPA, do they have a right to meaningful judicial review — or is EPA effectively above the law?

www.pacificlegal.org/Sackett

About Pacific Legal Foundation
Donor-supported PLF (www.pacificlegal.org) is the leading watchdog organization that litigates, without charge, for limited government, property rights, individual rights, and a balanced approach to environmental regulations, in courts nationwide.