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Pleasant Ridge Wins Again at Appeals Court

September 10, 2018

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 16 consecutive 4-star ratings

Institute for Justice Dismantles Philadelphia Forfeiture Machine
Friend-of-the-Court Briefs Stack up Against the State In U.S. Supreme Court’s Timbs Excessive Fines Clause Case
Statement Responding to Charlestown City Council Decision to Rescind the State’s Unsafe Building Law
Property Owner Sheltering Akron’s Homeless Fights for Right to Help
Pleasant Ridge Wins Again at Appeals Court
IJ Files Merits Brief & Posts Video News Release In Anticipation of Timbs Excessive Fines Clause Case To Be Argued Before the U.S. Supreme Court
After Being Sued, Carolina Beach Votes To End Unconstitutional Food Truck Law

Institute for Justice Dismantles Philadelphia Forfeiture Machine

After four years of litigation, city agrees to end “policing for profit,” ensure due process and establish $3 million compensation fund for victims of city’s forfeiture practices

PHILADELPHIA—The Institute for Justice (IJ) today announced a major settlement with the city of Philadelphia, ending the city’s draconian civil forfeiture machine. In documents filed with the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania today, city officials agreed to a set of reforms that will end the perverse financial incentives under which law…

Friend-of-the-Court Briefs Stack up Against the State In U.S. Supreme Court’s Timbs Excessive Fines Clause Case

18 Amicus Briefs Support Institute for Justice’s Client, 1 Brief, which Examines the History of the Eighth Amendment, Remains Neutral Indiana Supreme Court Ruled Governments within the State May Impose Excessive Fines Until the U.S. Supreme Court Says They Can’t Arlington, Va.—In late November or early December, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear Timbs v.…

Statement Responding to Charlestown City Council Decision to Rescind the State’s Unsafe Building Law

Today, the Charlestown City Council started the process of rescinding the Indiana state Unsafe Building Law. The vote comes just two days after an Indiana Appeals Court ruled that the city had violated the state Unsafe Building Law when it levied outrageous fines against homeowners in the Pleasant Ridge neighborhood. In response to today’s vote,…

Property Owner Sheltering Akron’s Homeless Fights for Right to Help

Hearing to Decide Whether City Council Will Allow Tents on Private Property

Akron, Ohio—Tonight at 7:00 p.m., the Akron City Council will hold a hearing on the application of Sage Lewis and The Homeless Charity for a permit to continue sheltering the homeless on private commercial property at 15 Broad Street. This permit application raises not just questions about zoning policy, but the constitutional rights of property…

Pleasant Ridge Wins Again at Appeals Court

Appellate Court rules state protections that the city had blatantly ignored do, in fact, apply to Charlestown property owners

Charlestown, Ind.—Today, the Indiana Court of Appeals ruled that the City of Charlestown must follow the state of Indiana’s Unsafe Building Law, a state statute that gives property owners procedural protections from overzealous city code enforcement. The decision on the neighborhood’s preliminary injunction now goes back to Judge Jason Mount to rule on how the Unsafe…

IJ Files Merits Brief & Posts Video News Release In Anticipation of Timbs Excessive Fines Clause Case To Be Argued Before the U.S. Supreme Court

Indiana Supreme Court Ruled It May Impose Excessive Fines Until the U.S. Supreme Court Says It Can’t

Arlington, Va.—The case of Tyson Timbs v. State of Indiana, which will be argued this fall before the U.S. Supreme Court, tells an all-too-familiar tale of opioid addiction and recovery in America. But this story has an important constitutional twist that may help protect millions of Americans from the abuse of government-imposed fines and fees,…

After Being Sued, Carolina Beach Votes To End Unconstitutional Food Truck Law

Carolina Beach, N.C.—Last night, after an extended meeting behind closed doors, the Carolina Beach town council repealed a law that makes it illegal to operate a food truck in the town unless the owner also owns a brick-and-mortar restaurant in town. The unanimous vote came a week after the Institute for Justice (IJ) partnered with…

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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December 7, 2017 | Strategic Research

Flour Power

How Cottage Food Entrepreneurs Are Using Their Home Kitchens to Become Their Own Bosses
December 5, 2017 | Strategic Research

Finding the American Dream at Home

How Home-Based Businesses Benefit Entrepreneurs and Their Communities

Gajendra Singh

Jim Roos

St. Louis tried to take Jim Roos’ property through eminent domain. Jim protested by painting a giant sign on one of his buildings. The city then tried to censor him.

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.

Lara Allen

Lara Allen’s four children, all of whom are gifted and/or have special needs, need more than what the public schools can offer.

Hinga Mbogo

For more than 30 years, Hinga Mbogo has been fixing the cars of Dallas residents at his shop on Ross Avenue. But the city is trying to shut him down by using an oppressive and little-known zoning process called “amortization.”

Pat Raynor

Pat Raynor, a lifelong hairstylist, became interested in working from home after her husband Harold passed away in 2009. But under Nashville’s ban on home-based businesses, Pat was forced to shut down her home hair salon.

Kevin Howard

Michael Peticolas

Michael Peticolas owns Peticolas Brewing, located in an industrial neighborhood near downtown Dallas. In 2013, Texas passed a law that prohibits brewers from negotiating with distributors for the value of their territorial rights. Instead, the law forces brewers to give those rights away for free. That jeopardizes his plans to expand into other parts of Texas.

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.”

Ricardo Quintanilla

Ricardo Quintanilla operates Tacos el Regio but San Antonio’s vending restrictions make it difficult to operate.

Lisa Howard

Chris Hadraba

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.

Scott Fisher and Gone Broke Gaming

Scott Fisher runs a video game store in Orange Park, Florida, just outside Jacksonville. To boost foot traffic and visibility for his business, he set up a giant inflatable Mario, only to run afoul of the town’s sign code. Scott has joined with the Institute for Justice to defend his First Amendment rights.

Brent Melton

Samantha Harris

Samantha Harris hired Sally Ladd, a New Jersey-based entrepreneur, to manager her short-term vacation rental in Pennsylvania’s Pocono Mountains. But when Pennsylvania wanted Ladd 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.

Keith Westphal

IJ clients Keith Westphal and Joyce Osborn Wilson are banned from offering Alabamians a comfortable and clean place to use the prepackaged, teeth-whitening products they sell to customers.

Shelia Champion

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

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.

Aaron and Monica Cannon

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.

Randy Sowers

Randy Sowers has run a dairy farm in Frederick County, Md. since 1981. But in 2012, the IRS seized the farm’s bank account because the Sowers deposited the cash in amounts under $10,000.

Alan and Judy Gillis

David Vocatura

Vocatura’s Bakery was founded in 1919, almost one hundred years ago, and has been owned and operated by three generations of the Vocatura family. Claiming the owners violated so-called “structuring” laws by depositing cash in the bakery’s bank account in amounts less than $10,000, the IRS seized more than $68,000 from the family.

Nikki McGowan

Nikki McGowan owns and operates the Madame BBQ food truck. She is challenging Baltimore’s 300-foot rule because it prevents her from successfully operating in the city.

Jessica Hadraba

Robert Martin

Robert Martin operates the Red’s Comfort Foods food truck and offers specialty gourmet hot dogs and sausages in Louisville, Kentucky. The city’s 150-foot ban makes it difficult for Robert to operate his Red’s Comfort Foods food truck in Louisville because the law creates no-vending zones that extend 150 feet around every restaurant, café and eating establishment in the city. In fact, Robert was even cited in 2015 for vending downtown within 150 feet of a restaurant.

Troy King

After working in the food service industry for several years, Troy King purchased his first food truck in 2014—a gourmet chicken food truck called Pollo. But in September 2016, Troy was operating Pollo in downtown Louisville when a city inspector threatened to issue a citation and tow his truck simply because Troy was serving customers within 150 feet a restaurant that also serves chicken. Troy was forced to abandon his vending location and his customers.

Jon McGlothian

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.

Mary Jackson

Central Radio Company

Bob Wilson is blocked by the city of Norfolk, Va., from displaying a banner protesting eminent domain abuse outside his business, Central Radio Company.

Achan Agit

Achan works in fear that Iowa will punish her for providing her services without a license. If she could braid without a license, she would reopen her salon, grow her business and better provide for her family.

Jim and Cliff Courtney

Jim and Cliff Courtney have a plan to bring economic prosperity to their small community. Unfortunately, the state of Washington has sunk their plan with a law that requires them to obtain a certificate of “public convenience and necessity” from the state in order to pick up and drop off passengers.

Aurora Espinoza

Aurora Espinoza is a single mom who works a full‑time job to make ends meet, has two daughters who are trapped by their zip code in some of the worst public schools in the state.

John Rosemond

John Rosemond’s lawsuit defends freedom of speech and freedom of the press from government officials who believe that it can be a crime in America to express an opinion in a newspaper.

Esteban Narez

Esteban Narez, 26, grew up in Watsonville, California with his mother and two sisters. Esteban withdrew from high school his senior year due to a major injury. He hasn’t been able to get a GED because the medical bills and his family’s finances have forced him to work full-time ever since. Esteban wants to train as a farrier, but California won’t let him.

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.

Mildred Bryant

Mildred Bryant is 84 years old and living out her golden years in the home she’s owned for 46 years in Pagedale, Missouri. But she faces a real threat of tickets, fines, and imprisonment from the town.

Regino Soriano

Regino Soriano owns a popular food truck named El Bandolero, but his plans to expand have been significantly restricted by San Antonio’s city’s 300-foot rule.

Sung Cho

Sung Cho owns and operates Super Laundromat and Drycleaners, one of the largest laundromats in Manhattan. Sung could be evicted, and his business closed, simply because his business was the site of a crime. The identity of the criminals was beside the point.

Terry Dehko and Sandy Thomas

Terry Dehko and his family have owned and operated the Schott’s Market in Fraser, Mich., for 35 years. The Dehkos had $35,000 taken from them by federal law enforcement officials through a process known as civil forfeiture.

Jeana and Jack Horner

Jeana and Jack Horner are among the hundreds of people each year who find themselves caught in Indianapolis’s forfeiture machine.

Jason and Jacki Wiebesick

Jason and Jacki have owned their property in Golden Valley, a suburb of Minneapolis, for decades. But the city hasn’t respected their tenants’ wishes and instead has tried to obtain unconstitutional “administrative” warrants to force its way inside.

Gerardo Serrano

Gerardo Serrano owns a Ford F-250 pickup that was seized by Customs and Border Protection for civil forfeiture in September 2015. CBP seized the truck because they found five bullets in the center console, claiming they were “munitions of war.” After almost two years without a judge hearing his case, Gerardo joined with the Institute for Justice in September 2017 to file a lawsuit to get his truck back. Gerardo also filed suit on behalf of all U.S. citizens who have had vehicles seized by CBP, seeking an order requiring the agency to provide a prompt hearing whenever they take vehicles for civil forfeiture.

Josh Craven

Josh grew up in Pleasant Ridge and he cannot realistically afford to own a home anywhere else.

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.

The Slatic Family

James Slatic is a consummate entrepreneur who has started more than ten businesses and has been active in the medical marijuana movement. Annette works as a radiology technician for the local Veterans Administration Hospital. Lily is a sophomore at San Jose State University and her sister Penny is in high school.

Carl and Joy Gamble

Norwood, Ohio wanted to bulldoze Carl and Joy’s home of more than three decades to make way for a private developer.

Bob Smith

Bob Smith has been professionally shoeing horses since 1974 and founded Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School (PCHS) in Plymouth, California to pass his skills on to another generation of farriers. But California threatened to shut him down, because Bob was admitting students to his horseshoeing school who hadn’t first graduated from high school or passed an equivalent government-approved exam.

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Institute for Justice Dismantles Philadelphia Forfeiture Machine

Institute for Justice

Homepage

Pleasant Ridge Wins Again at Appeals Court

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 16 consecutive 4-star ratings

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | September 18, 2018

After four years of litigation, city agrees to end “policing for profit,” ensure due process and establish $3 million compensation fund for victims of city’s forfeiture practices

John Kramer | Press Release | September 17, 2018

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | September 12, 2018

Andrew Wimer | Press Release | September 10, 2018

Hearing to Decide Whether City Council Will Allow Tents on Private Property

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | September 10, 2018

Appellate Court rules state protections that the city had blatantly ignored do, in fact, apply to Charlestown property owners

John Kramer | Press Release | September 5, 2018

Indiana Supreme Court Ruled It May Impose Excessive Fines Until the U.S. Supreme Court Says It Can’t

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | August 29, 2018

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

December 7, 2017 | Strategic Research

How Cottage Food Entrepreneurs Are Using Their Home Kitchens to Become Their Own Bosses

December 5, 2017 | Strategic Research

How Home-Based Businesses Benefit Entrepreneurs and Their Communities

JOIN THE FIGHT! Sign up for newsletters:

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