Center for Justice

The Pelican Center for Justice is dedicated to advancing pro-freedom litigation to ensure the rights of Louisiana’s working families are protected. Aggressively litigious, anti-freedom special interests are using the courtroom to fight policy battles, which makes defending the rights of citizens all the more important. Now, more than ever, Louisiana needs liberty-focused strategic litigation, and the Pelican Center for Justice is working tirelessly to ensure the freedoms of all Louisianans are intact.

SCOTUS Rightly Concerned Over Executive Overreach In Student Loan Cases

Sarah Harbison, General Counsel at the Pelican Institute Center for Justice, released the following statement after the Supreme Court held oral arguments in Biden v. Nebraska and Department of Education v. Brown regarding the Biden Administration’s student loan debt cancellation program: “The Justices were rightly concerned that forgiving half a trillion dollars in student loan...

By Chris Lowery

REPORTS

Louisiana’s Comeback Agenda

Op-Ed: The NDAA Won’t Stop Biden’s Back-Door Military Vaccine Separations

Originally published in Center Square This past week, many rejoiced that a National Defense Authorization Act (“NDAA”) that eliminates the COVID-19 military vaccine mandate was signed into law. That mandate resulted in the separation or threat of separation of thousands of service members who chose not to take the COVID-19 vaccine because of their sincerely-held...

By James Baehr

PeliCast: The NDAA Won’t Fix Two Years of Bad Policies

On this PeliCast, Master Sergeant Rob Galey joins the Pelican Institute’s Special Counsel, James Baehr, to discuss their recent lawsuit against the Biden Administration over the U.S. Army’s COVID-19 Vaccine Mandate. The two discuss Master Sergeant Galey’s calling and career in the military, why he respectfully declined to take the vaccine, and how the newest...

By Chris Lowery

Release: Appeal Filed in Halstead Bead Remote-Seller Sales Tax Case

For media inquiries please contact Chris Lowery (225) 726-1822 or chris@pelicaninstitute.org New Orleans — Yesterday, Halstead Bead, represented by a team from the National Taxpayers Union Foundation’s Taxpayer Defense Center, the Pelican Institute, and the Goldwater Institute, filed an appeal with the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit in its ongoing lawsuit that...

By Chris Lowery

Federal Judge Blocks Overreaching Government Mandates on Head Start

Today, a judge in Louisiana’s Western District ruled that the federal government cannot mandate Head Start program teachers, staff, and volunteers in twenty-four states to receive the Covid-19 vaccine, nor can it require that adults and students wear masks. This ruling marks the second time the Pelican Institute and Liberty Justice Center clients have stopped...

By Sarah Harbison

Judge Certifies Air Force Class Action Protecting Servicemembers from Wrongful Separation

A federal judge has advanced a class action lawsuit consisting of all active and reserve Air Force servicemembers with religious objections to the COVID-19 vaccine mandate and granted a preliminary injunction protecting those airmen from being discharged as their case progresses. In March, the Pelican Center for Justice filed suit in the Western District of...

By James Baehr

Lawyer Fighting for First Amendment Rights Gets His Day in Court

New Orleans attorney Randy Boudreaux will finally get his day in court when his challenge to Louisiana’s mandatory bar membership requirement for Louisiana lawyers goes to trial on June 21, 2022. He is represented by lawyers from the Pelican Institute’s Center for Justice, the Goldwater Institute, and Loyola College of Law professor Dane Ciolino. Numerous...

By Sarah Harbison

Ursula’s Fight for the Right to Earn a Living

In January 2021, the Pelican Center for Justice, along with Pacific Legal Foundation, filed a lawsuit on behalf of New Orleans social worker Ursula Newell-Davis. Ursula’s lawsuit challenges the constitutionality of Louisiana’s facility need review (FNR) laws. These laws prevent social workers like Ursula, who have a passion for helping at-risk children, from working in...

By Sarah Harbison

Louisiana Should Reinstate Workers’ First Amendment Rights

Have you ever signed up for a free trial of a streaming service like Spotify? You enjoy three months of free music but notice a charge of $9.99 on your credit card statement for month four because you forgot to cancel your subscription. From then on, you vow to set a calendar reminder to cancel...

By Sarah Harbison

Louisiana Service Member Sues Biden Administration to Challenge Separations Under Military COVID Vaccine Mandate

The Pelican Center for Justice brought suit to challenge the Biden administration’s military COVID vaccine mandate on behalf of a Louisiana service member being forced to choose between serving her faith and serving her country. Air Force Senior Airman Faith Crocker has honorably and capably served her country at Barksdale Air Force Base for years...

By James Baehr

U.S. Supreme Court Issues Stay of Illegal OSHA Vaccine Mandate

In a 6-3 decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has issued a stay of the OSHA employer vaccine mandate, pending further review by the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals. In layman’s terms, that means the rule cannot go into effect until the legal process is complete, and the Court sent the case back to the Sixth...

By Daniel J. Erspamer

Amicus Curiae Brief Filed to Protect The First Amendment

The U.S. Supreme Court will consider two challenges to mandatory bar membership in January 2022. Lawyers in Oklahoma and Texas who are forced to join their states’ bar associations as a condition of practicing law filed petitions for writs of certiorari asking the Court to affirm the First Amendment rights of the hundreds of thousands...

By Sarah Harbison