American conservative law firm
Mountain States Legal Foundation (MSLF ) is an American 501(c)(3) nonprofit [ 2] conservative free market public interest law firm based in Lakewood, Colorado .[ 3] [ 4] [ 5] Its lawyers argue cases on property rights and federal land management in the American West,[ 5] as well as gun rights[ 6] and other constitutional law cases.
Past attorneys for MSLF include James G. Watt and Gale Norton , who became U.S. secretaries of the interior in the Reagan administration and George W. Bush administration , respectively; William Perry Pendley , acting director of the Bureau of Land Management in the first Trump administration ; and John Kyl , former U.S. senator from Arizona .[ 7] [ 8]
History and activities
MSLF was incorporated in Denver, Colorado , in 1976 with funding from the National Legal Center for the Public Interest and Joseph Coors .[ 9] MSLF's first president was James G. Watt . MSLF filed amicus briefs opposing an affirmative action program at the University of Colorado Law School , opposing business inspections, and opposing Idaho 's ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment .[ 9]
MSLF is governed by a volunteer Board of Directors, which also approves all legal actions taken by MSLF, and assisted in the selection of its litigation by a volunteer Board of Litigation.[ 10] [ 11] MSLF employs a full-time staff, which includes attorneys who conduct all of the litigation in which MSLF engages. The organization reports its annual budget to be over $2 million.[ 12]
MSLF's office is in Lakewood, Colorado , near Denver . MSLF publishes a quarterly newsletter, The Litigator , which addresses topical legal issues.
Since its creation, MSLF has argued cases before the Supreme Court of the United States and numerous federal courts of appeals .[citation needed ] In 1995, its president, William Perry Pendley , argued before the Supreme Court in Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña , the case in which the justices ruled that preferential treatment based on race is almost always unconstitutional.[ 13] [ 14] MSLF has continued its litigation regarding affirmative action , reverse discrimination , and racial quotas and preferences, and also has litigated regarding the Voting Rights Act .[citation needed ]
In addition, MSLF has litigated regarding property rights. Its lawsuits have involved the Endangered Species Act , the Clean Water Act , (especially regarding wetlands ), the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), the National Forest Management Act , the Antiquities Act , the Multiple Use Sustained Yield Act , and the General Mining Law and bars on and restrictions regarding the ability to develop natural resources such as energy and minerals and forest and agricultural products. In a case dismissed in 2002, MSLF sued George W. Bush for failing to overturn a designation of national monuments action by Bill Clinton .[ 15]
MSLF's sources of funding have included Texaco , U.S. Steel Phillips Petroleum and ExxonMobil corporations and Castle Rock Foundation .[ 16]
Notable employees
Notable past employees include:[ 17] [ 7] [ 18] [ 8]
References
^ "Mountain States Legal Foundation Staff" . Mountainstateslegal.org. Retrieved 2017-06-16 .
^ "Mountain States Legal Foundation" . projects.propublica.org . ProPublica . Retrieved 31 July 2024 .
^ Lewin, Tamar (July 20, 1982). "Talking Business with Roger J Marzulla of Mountain States Legal Foundation Free Market Philosophy" . New York Times . Retrieved 1 March 2019 .
^ Kim, Caitlyn. "The New Acting Director Of The BLM Once Advocated For Selling Off Public Lands" . Colorado Public Radio . Retrieved 2021-09-20 .
^ a b Risen, James (January 31, 2001). "Vote Lifts Conservative Land Groups" . The New York Times . Retrieved 1 March 2019 .
^ "Boulder Rifle Club, Jon Caldara sue city over assault weapon ban" . The Denver Post . 2018-05-17. Retrieved 2019-07-22 .
^ a b "LAW: Foundation that launched Interior chiefs Watt, Norton doubles down on litigation - Thursday, January 2, 2014" . www.eenews.net. Retrieved 2017-06-16 .
^ a b Ketcham, Christopher (2020-02-03). "The Trump Official Who Could Obliterate Public Lands" . The New Republic . ISSN 0028-6583 . Retrieved 2021-09-21 .
^ a b Bellant, Russ. The Coors Connection: How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism, p 85. South End Press, 1991. ISBN 9780896084162
^ http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/about-us/board-of-directors
^ http://www.mountainstateslegal.org/about-us/board-of-litigation
^ http://www.charitynavigator.org
^ Lacayo, Richard; Novak, Viveca (2003-06-22). "How Rehnquist Changed America" . Time . ISSN 0040-781X . Retrieved 2020-10-25 .
^ Lindgren, Kristina (1995-11-29). "LITIGATION : Sagebrush Lawyer Reins In the Feds : Legal foundation chief helps lead the West's battle for more property rights, less regulation" . Los Angeles Times . Retrieved 2021-09-21 .
^ Lindstrom, Matthew J. (2011). Encyclopedia of the U.S. Government and the Environment . ABC-CLIO . p. 508. ISBN 9781598842388 .
^ Lindstrom, p 507.
^ JEFFREY ROSENAPRIL 17, 2005 (2005-04-17). "The Unregulated Offensive - The New York Times" . The New York Times . Retrieved 2019-03-01 . {{cite web }}
: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link )
^ "Steven J. Lechner" . 8 June 2020.
External links