In 2007, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) ordered Chantell and Mike Sackett to halt construction of a new home in Priest Lake, Idaho. The agency claimed that the couple was building on a wetland. Adding insult to injury, the EPA ordered the couple to restore the land to its original condition or face fines as high as $75,000 per day. For the past fifteen years, they have been fighting to restore their freedom. In early October, the Pacific Legal Foundation argued Sackett v. EPA before the United States Supreme Court. The Sacketts may finally get justice, but justice delayed is justice denied.
Justice means granting to others that which they deserve. The Sacketts rightfully own the land that they wished to build on. Justice demands that they be free to use that land as they deem best. Even if they win their case, they have been unable to use their land for fifteen years—fifteen years of their lives that they can never get back.
The Sacketts are not the only victims of the EPA’s immoral, anti-development policies. However, they are among a small number of people who have the courage to take on the EPA. Fighting the federal government is a long, tedious, and expensive endeavor. It takes great fortitude, as well as a strong sense of morality, to undertake such a project. The Sacketts deserve our support and admiration, as does the Pacific Legal Foundation.
The Sacketts may be fighting to recover the right to use their property as they desire, but their effort applies to all property owners. If we want the freedom to use our land as we judge best, then must respect and defend the same freedom for others. When the rights of one property owner are violated, the rights of all property owners are threatened. The Sacketts are fighting a battle for all of us, a battle to free us (at least a little bit) from the yoke of environmental protection laws.