Monday on Lou Dobbs:  The Sacketts and PLF’s Damien Schiff

SACRAMENTO, CA; January 6, 2012: On Monday morning, January 9, the United States Supreme Court will hear the Pacific Legal Foundation property rights case, Sackett v. United States Environmental Protection Agency.

PLF Senior Staff Attorney Damien M. Schiff will argue the case at the Supreme Court on behalf of PLF clients Mike and Chantell Sackett.

Later that day, the Lou Dobbs Tonight show on Fox Business Channel is scheduled to interview Schiff and the Sacketts.

Lou Dobbs Tonight airs on the Fox Business Channel at 7:00 p.m. EST, 4:00 p.m. PST.

Representing the Sacketts without charge, PLF attorneys are arguing for the right to judicial appeal when EPA effectively takes over private property by declaring it “wetlands.”

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

The currently empty lot where the Sacketts planned to build their family home.

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.

Damien M. Schiff Senior Staff Attorney

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 12 times the value of their land!

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?

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.