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Illinois Family Sues to End Law Threatening Them With Compulsory Eviction for a Crime They Did Not Commit

August 1, 2019

Freelance Novelists Sue Charlottesville to Protect Their First Amendment Rights

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 17 consecutive 4-star ratings

Emails Reveal Coordination Between Downtown Restaurant Owner and Council Member to Cripple Food Trucks
Familias de Nevada Piden a la Corte que Restaure los Créditos Fiscales para las Becas
Nevada Families Ask Court to Restore Tax Credits for Scholarships
Illinois Family Sues to End Law Threatening Them With Compulsory Eviction for a Crime They Did Not Commit
Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota’s Protectionist Ban on Using Out-of-State Grapes to Make Wine Scores Major Win
Mandan Residents Are Allowed To Display Murals Without The Government’s Permission
After Years of Struggle with the City, Tamale Food Cart Passes Inspection and Paves the Way for Fellow Vendors

Emails Reveal Coordination Between Downtown Restaurant Owner and Council Member to Cripple Food Trucks

Public records request shines a light on the anti-competitive motivations behind vending ordinance being considered by Metro Council this evening

Louisville, Ky.—Emails brought to light by a public records request from the Institute for Justice (IJ) reveal how Louisville Metro Council member Barbara Sexton-Smith leaned on Metro officials on behalf of a restaurant owner to cripple food trucks. IJ submitted its request back in November 2018, but only received these emails after suing Sexton-Smith and…

Familias de Nevada Piden a la Corte que Restaure los Créditos Fiscales para las Becas

La Legislatura aprobó el proyecto de ley sin la supermayoría requerida para los proyectos de ley de recaudación de ingresos.

Las Vegas, Nev.- Mientras los estudiantes de Nevada regresan a clases esta semana, algunos no irán a las escuelas que sus familias deseaban para ellos. A principios de este año, la Legislatura de Nevada eliminó el aumento anual automático en la cantidad de créditos fiscales disponibles para los donantes de la Beca de la Oportunidad…

Nevada Families Ask Court to Restore Tax Credits for Scholarships

Legislature passed bill without supermajority required for revenue-raising bills

Las Vegas, Nev.—As Nevada students return to classrooms this week, some will not be attending the schools their families wanted for them. Earlier this year, the Nevada Legislature eliminated the automatic annual increase in the amount of tax credits available for donors to the Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program. However, this revenue-raising measure was not…

Illinois Family Sues to End Law Threatening Them With Compulsory Eviction for a Crime They Did Not Commit

After a house guest was arrested, Granite City, Ill. police are now trying to evict everyone in the home: An innocent family with three teenaged kids

On a sunny afternoon last month, Jessica Barron and Kenny Wylie were startled to hear a knock on the door of their home on a quiet street in Granite City, Illinois, a suburb of St. Louis. The knock quickly turned into pounding and a call: “Police, open up!” Adrenaline rushing, they told their kids to…

Lawsuit Challenging Minnesota’s Protectionist Ban on Using Out-of-State Grapes to Make Wine Scores Major Win

Eighth Circuit allows constitutional claims to be tested

Minneapolis—Minnesotans became one step closer to having more wine options today when the 8th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that two Minnesota wineries can move forward with their challenge to a little-known but onerous state law that severely restricts the kinds of grapes they can use to make wine. Under the law, a winery…

Mandan Residents Are Allowed To Display Murals Without The Government’s Permission

Mandan, N.D.—Following a federal court order in Lonesome Dove’s lawsuit against Mandan over the city’s mural guidelines, all Mandan businesses are free to display murals without the government’s permission as the lawsuit continues. On July 11, Magistrate Judge Clare R. Hochhalter of the U.S. District Court for the District of North Dakota ordered that “The…

After Years of Struggle with the City, Tamale Food Cart Passes Inspection and Paves the Way for Fellow Vendors

Chicago, Ill.—Carmen Nava-Najera, known to her customers as Mrs. Nava, has been selling her handmade tamales on Chicago streets for 22 years. Now, after a long struggle, Mrs. Nava’s tamale cart has been licensed by the city. She is the first member of the Street Vendors Association of Chicago to have her equipment approved, paving…

Our Issues

Educational Choice

School choice is simply the idea that all parents, regardless of means, should enjoy the freedom to choose what schools their children attend.
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Economic Liberty

The right to earn a living in the occupation of your choice without unnecessary government interference is at the heart of the American Dream.
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First Amendment

We seek to defend the free flow of information—information that is indispensable to our democratic form of government and to our free enterprise economy.
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Private Property

Respecting the right of private property is essential to a just and prosperous society. But government at all levels—local, state and federal—routinely infringe on these rights.
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LITTLE PINK HOUSE

SHE FOUGHT FOR HER HOME. AND YOURS.

ECONOMIC LIBERTY

Occupational Licensing Blocks Americans' Right to Earn an Honest Living.

OccupationalLicensing.com

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June 7, 2019 | Strategic Research

Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue?

Testing Opposing Views of Forfeiture
November 15, 2018 | Strategic Research

Ready to Roll

Nine Lessons from Ending Wisconsin's Home-Baking Ban

Cynthia Perry

IJ client Cynthia Perry wants to send her daughter, Faith, to a private school in North Carolina, but she cannot afford the tuition on her own. She needs the financial lifeline of an Opportunity Scholarship.

Russ Caswell

Russ Caswell and his family have owned and operated the Motel Caswell in Tewksbury, Mass., for two generations. The Caswells nearly had their property taken from them by local and federal law enforcement officials through a process known as civil forfeiture.

Kendra Espinoza

Tina Barnes

Tina was elected to the Charlestown City Council to represent the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. If forced out by the city, Tina, her daughter and granddaughters will all be homeless.

Michael Nolan

Michael loves Charleston and plans to tell its story to visitors, but he will do so because he has a right to say what he wants—not because the city has given him its permission.

Ken Leininger

After eight years of working as a driver for Yellow Cab, Ken Leininger decided to start his own business. But when Ken tried to get permits for his new business early last year, Little Rock denied his applications.

Anthonia Nwaorie

A registered nurse and grandmother from Katy, Texas, Anthonia had over $40,000 in cash seized by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. She was heading to Nigeria and planned to use the money to help family and to built a new medical clinic. Anthonia is now the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit against CBP’s policies of seizing cash and demanding owners waive away their constitutional rights to recover their money.

Gary and Michelle Erb

Aicheria Bell

Aicheria Bell lives in Des Moines. She is passionate about natural hair care and has been braiding hair since she was three years old.

Corban Addison

Michael Driesen

Iowa’s certificate-of-need requirement prevents Michael Driesen and his children from receiving future ENT surgeries from Korver ENT because Korver ENT cannot open its proposed surgery center before obtaining a certificate of need.

Jameelah El-Shabazz

In 2011, police raided Jameelah El-Shabazz’s apartment in New York City and found several cups filled with crushed eggshells, which Jameelah uses for religious purposes. Believing the cups were filled with drugs, police arrested Jameelah and her son Akin and held them in jail for a week. They also had her apartment closed . City attorneys, relying on those same discredited allegations about the cups of crushed eggshells, claimed the apartment had been the site of drug crimes, and had her apartment closed under the city’s no-fault eviction ordinance. Unable to fight back in court, Jameelah had to agree to permanently bar her son from her home in order to regain access to her own apartment.

John Rinaldi

When John tried to expand his cab business to Bowling Green, he was stymied by a city law that limited the number of taxis allowed in the city to only 16. Less than two months after he filed a lawsuit, Bowling Green repealed the cap.

Michelle and Steven Freenor

Tour guides are storytellers, and the government can’t be in the business of deciding who is (or who is not) allowed to tell stories.

Dr. Lee Birchansky

Recognized as one of the top ophthalmologists in the country, Dr. Lee Birchansky seeks to offer the kind of medical innovation Iowans need.

Progressive Radiology

Dr. Mark Monteferrante wants to build a new, top-notch medical facility in Virginia. But under the commonwealth’s certificate of need (CON) program, he first has to persuade government officials that his facility would be “needed.”

Janice Craig

Janice received a $215 fine for “failure to obey traffic signs or control” in Doraville, Georgia. If she can, Janice now goes out of her way to avoid Doraville.

Veronica Walker-Davis and Jerome Davis

Ashley N'Dakpri

Terry and Ria Platt

Soon after Terry and Ria’s car was seized, they found themselves lost in Arizona’s forfeiture maze.

Brian Peffer

Brian Peffer owns and operates “Creative Chef on Wheels.” Brian simply wants to provide his customers with the best food and service he can, but Fort Pierce, Florida’s 500-foot ban stops him from competing.

Phil Parhamovich

In March 2017, Phil Parhamovich, a musician from Madison, Wisconsin, was pulled over by the Wyoming Highway Patrol and pressured into signing a pre-printed waiver that stated he was “giving” his $91,800 in cash to the Wyoming Division of Criminal Investigation. Fortunately, after the Institute for Justice took his case, law enforcement returned all of the cash they had wrongfully taken from Phil.

Heather Kokesch Del Castillo

Heather Kokesch Del Castillo is a health coach in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, who joined with the Institute for Justice to defend her First Amendment right to give dietary advice.

Spencer Byrd

Sally Ladd

Sally Ladd is a New Jersey-based entrepreneur who provides short-term vacation property management services in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. But after Pennsylvania wanted her to obtain a real-estate broker’s license, which requires her to spend three years working for an established broker, Sally felt forced to shut down her business.

Young Americans for Freedom

Whitworth University Young Americans for Freedom Chapter (WU-YAF) has members who are eligible for the State Work-Study Program, but some of their desired employers are considered ineligible because they are “sectarian.”

Robert and Rebecca McCaughtry

Under Red Wing, Minn.’s rental inspection ordinance, it is easier for the government to force its way into the homes of law-abiding citizens than it is to search the home of a suspected criminal. Robert and Rebecca joined a lawsuit to stop these unreasonable and intrusive inspections of their private residential properties.

Bill Campbell

Ken Quran

Khalid (“Ken”) Quran moved to America in 1997, and now runs a convenience store in Greenville, N.C. But the government seized his entire bank account—more than $150,000—even though he was never charged with a crime.

Shelia Champion

Shelia Champion lives in Hazel Green, Alabama and operates a cemetery, The Good Earth Burial Ground.

Bernardo Soriano

Bernardo has plans to grow his food truck business, but San Antonio’s 300-foot rule is making it very difficult for him to realize his goals.

Rafael Lopez

San Antonio shut down Rafael’s food truck and threatened him with daily fines of up to $2,000 per day if he continued to vend.

Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto

Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, a Democrat representing Bernalillo County, carried the Forfeiture Reform bill on the floor of the Senate.

David Diaz

David Diaz, a custodian at a synagogue in the Bronx, lives with members of his family in an apartment near the Bronx Zoo. The NYPD raided the apartment in 2013, entering with guns drawn, and arrested all the adults present, but did not charge anyone.

John Hart

Doug and Mary Ketchum

Doug and Mary Ketchum moved to Tennessee to purchase an historic liquor store that would let them take care of their 32-year-old daughter, Stacie, who suffers from cerebral palsy. But they can’t get a liquor license, thanks to the state’s strict residency requirements.

Charlie Birnbaum

Charlie Birnbaum is fighting to keep his family home in Atlantic City, N.J., which has been in his family for 50 years. But New Jersey wants to take it for the benefit of a bankrupt casino.

Dave and Amy Carson

Dave and Amy Carson are residents of Glenburn, Maine and have sent their daughter, Olivia, now a sophomore, to Bangor Christian Schools. But because Olivia’s school is religious, Glenburn is prohibited from paying for Olivia’s tuition.

Jean Soderlind

Tour guides are storytellers, and the government can’t be in the business of deciding who is (or who is not) allowed to tell stories.

Jim Ficken

Ash Patel

Ash Patel moved to Texas from India to pursue his American Dream of opening up an eyebrow threading salon. But in 2009, Texas demanded that eyebrow threaders obtain an expensive cosmetology license—even though beauty schools teach absolutely nothing about eyebrow threading. Ash shut down his successful business to avoid paying $2,000 in fines. He teamed up with the Institute for Justice to vindicate his rights. Six years later, IJ scored one of its most important economic liberty victories when the Texas Supreme Court ruled that the state had violated the Texas Constitution by ordering threaders to obtain 750 hours of conventional cosmetology training. Threaders all over Texas are now free to work without having to obtain a government-issued license.

Nevada Families Ask Court to Restore Tax Credits for Scholarships

Institute for Justice

Homepage

Illinois Family Sues to End Law Threatening Them With Compulsory Eviction for a Crime They Did Not Commit

Freelance Novelists Sue Charlottesville to Protect Their First Amendment Rights

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 17 consecutive 4-star ratings

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | August 22, 2019

Public records request shines a light on the anti-competitive motivations behind vending ordinance being considered by Metro Council this evening

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | August 15, 2019

La Legislatura aprobó el proyecto de ley sin la supermayoría requerida para los proyectos de ley de recaudación de ingresos.

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | August 15, 2019

Legislature passed bill without supermajority required for revenue-raising bills

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | August 1, 2019

After a house guest was arrested, Granite City, Ill. police are now trying to evict everyone in the home: An innocent family with three teenaged kids

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | July 29, 2019

Eighth Circuit allows constitutional claims to be tested

Conor Beck | Press Release | July 26, 2019

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | July 26, 2019

Our Issues

Educational Choice

Economic Liberty

First Amendment

Private Property

IJ IN THE MOVIES

ACADEMY AWARD NOMINEE

CATHERINE KEENER

EMMY NOMINEE

JEANNE TRIPPLEHORN

LITTLE PINK HOUSE

SHE FOUGHT FOR HER HOME. AND YOURS.

ECONOMIC LIBERTY

Occupational Licensing Blocks Americans' Right to Earn an Honest Living.

OccupationalLicensing.com

SUPPORT OUR WORK

The National Law Firm for Liberty

Our Videos

Our Research

June 7, 2019 | Strategic Research

Testing Opposing Views of Forfeiture

November 15, 2018 | Strategic Research

Nine Lessons from Ending Wisconsin's Home-Baking Ban

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