PLF SCORES BIG WIN FOR FREE ENTERPRISE IN THE 9TH CIRCUIT

For 30 years, Alan Merrifield has been keeping businesses free of mice, birds, and other pests—by using innovative devices like spikes and screens.

Along came California state bureaucrats ... who told Merrifield that to keep his job, he needed extensive training and an expensive test in pesticides—even though he doesn’t use pesticides!

Alan installs netting

PLF took Merrifield’s case to court—and we won. The Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals struck down the anti-competition licensing law as an unconstitutional infringement on free enterprise.

PLF win is hailed as a landmark for liberty

PLF’s win for Mr. Merrifield's right to earn a living is being hailed as a landmark precedent for free enterprise.

• The libertarian Cato Institute wrote: “In establishing the legal principle that mere protectionism is not a legitimate state interest, the Merrifield case is a major victory for economic liberty—and the first time the Ninth Circuit has taken up this issue.”

   

• The Orange County Register agreed: “This ruling vindicates a fundamental constitutional right, the right to earn a living. And it reminds the public that government regulations end up picking economic winners and losers, strangling entrepreneurship and raising costs to the public.”

Thanks to PLF’s dedicated donors, we’re litigating nationwide for free enterprise, limited government, and property rights—and we’re winning historic victories.