Supreme Court Sides With Property Owners Against the EPA

A victory for freedom:

The Supreme Court has unanimously sided with Idaho property owners whose plans to build a home were blocked by an Environmental Protection Agency order declaring the property contained wetlands.

In an opinion by Justice Antonin Scalia, the court says Wednesday that the EPA cannot threaten fines of more than $30,000 a day without giving property owners the ability to challenge its actions.

The decision is a victory for Mike and Chantell Sackett, whose property near a scenic lake has sat undisturbed since the EPA ordered a halt in work in 2007. The agency said part of the property was a wetlands that cannot be disturbed without a permit.

The couple complained there was no reasonable way to challenge the order.

The EPA has become a tyrannical organization that desperately needs to be reined in. I'm not even sure you can make a good case that the EPA still needs to exist. Perhaps it could be useful, but in a much more restrained manner and one with much more respect for property owners and freedom.