Research Reports
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Policing for Profit 4
This fourth edition of IJ’s Policing for Profit report finds civil forfeiture is a massive unjustified threat to property and due process rights.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Bad Data
Every year, Indiana prosecutors produce reports for lawmakers detailing forfeiture activity in the state, but Bad Data shows these reports should be taken with a multimillion-dollar grain of salt.
Economic Liberty | Vending
Does the Growth of Food Trucks Threaten the Sustainability of Restaurants? Evidence From a Nationwide Analysis of U.S. Businesses
This article examines whether growth in the food truck sector in the United States harms restaurants, as restaurateurs and their allies often claim. Using 12 years of nationwide data in a dynamic panel data analysis, we…
Cosmetology | Occupational Licensing
Clean Cut
Clean Cut analyzed thousands of health inspections across four states and finds nail salons and barbershops were clean and safe, regardless of whether workers faced burdensome licensing, lighter licensing, or no licensing at all.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Forfeiture in Arizona Before Reform: Why Concerns About Abuse Were Justified
Using more than four years’ worth of data leading up to Arizona’s sweeping 2021 forfeiture reforms, this study finds lawmakers were right to worry that forfeiture was putting ordinary, often innocent, people at risk.
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine
The Open Fields Doctrine Is Wrong
This year marks the centennial of the Fourth Amendment “open fields” doctrine. That doctrine holds that the vast majority of private land in the United States receives zero Fourth Amendment protection—and thus government officials can…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Does Civil Forfeiture Fight Crime? Evidence From New Mexico
This study examined civil forfeiture’s impact on crime rates. Proponents of civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to take and permanently keep property without a criminal conviction, claim it is an essential crime-fighting tool, particularly…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
Are Municipal Fines and Fees Tools of Stategraft?
Most, if not all, incorporated communities in the United States have municipal and traffic codes that delineate the powers and duties of local governments or provide rules and regulations for public activity in the community.
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine
Good Fences? Good Luck
Released in the Cato Institute’s Regulation magazine, IJ’s study “Good Fences? Good Luck” is the first study to put a number on the amount of private property vulnerable to warrantless searches by federal agents thanks to a…
Immunity and Accountability
Unaccountable
The largest ever study of qualified immunity cases, Unaccountable finds the doctrine shields a wider array of officials and conduct than commonly thought while unacceptably burdening victims of government abuse and failing at its goals.
Food Freedom
New Data Show Homemade Food for Sale is Incredibly Safe
Is buying homemade food safe? New data from the Institute for Justice (IJ) show the answer to that question is a resounding “yes.” IJ contacted the seven states with the broadest homemade food laws (California,…
Economic Liberty | Health
Striving for Better Care
A certificate of need (CON) is a government mandated permission slip that a provider must get before opening a healthcare facility or adding new services. CON laws began as an experiment to reduce government expenditures…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Generating Revenue Through Civil Forfeiture
Civil forfeiture is a mechanism by which law enforcement can seize and keep property purportedly connected to a crime absent the arrest, formal charging, or even conviction of the property owner. Forfeiture laws also…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
How Sunrise Reviews Help Keep Regulation Focused on Health and Safety
Licensing professionals face a daunting challenge: effectively and justly balancing public health and safety with freedom of occupational practice. Whether in the course of rulemaking, enforcement, or advising lawmakers, licensing professionals can strive to strike…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
License to Work 3
This third edition of IJ’s landmark License to Work report finds that for lower-income Americans, licensing continues to be widespread, burdensome and—frequently—irrational. It also provides a blueprint for meaningful licensing reform.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Raising Barriers, Not Quality
This study tests claims that occupational licenses make consumers better off by screening out workers likely to provide inferior service. Comparing Yelp ratings for service providers in neighboring states with different licensing regimes, this study…
Commercial Speech | Economic Liberty | First Amendment
Standards of Identity and Imitation Milk Labeling
The stated motivation for identity standards is to protect consumers from misleading claims and reduce confusion. However, identity standards with little flexibility may increase consumer confusion while limiting the ability of firms to differentiate products.
Immunity and Accountability
Constitutional GPA
Constitutional rights only exist if they can be enforced. But a confusing patchwork of immunity doctrines and special rules often means they cannot be. Chief among the doctrines that prevent constitutional accountability is qualified immunity,…
Immunity and Accountability
Unqualified Immunity and the Betrayal of Butz v. Economou: How the Supreme Court Quietly Granted Federal Officials Absolute Immunity for Constitutional Violations
Betraying the long history of federal accountability in the United States, the modern Supreme Court has ushered in an era of increasingly absolute and unqualified immunity for federal officials.
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Baking Bad: Legal Barriers for Starting a Business Selling Homemade Food
This nationwide survey provides the most up-to-date account of state laws that allow the sale of homemade food and will be regularly updated whenever a state changes its laws.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Too Many Licenses
In recent decades, states have enacted occupational licensing laws covering a growing number of jobs, and now more American workers than ever must get a license to work. But do we need these new licenses?…
Economic Liberty | Vending
Food Truck Truth: Why Restaurants—and Cities—Have Nothing to Fear from Mobile Food Businesses
Learn more about our vending work. The Institute for Justice challenges anti-competitive laws that harm street vendors by unconstitutionally restricting their right to earn an honest living. LEARN MORE…
Economic Liberty
Barriers to Business
Too often entrepreneurs struggle with local regulatory burdens, finding themselves trapped by high fees, long wait times, and complex paperwork.
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Entrepreneur From Home: How Home-Based Businesses Provide Flexibility and Opportunity—and How Cities Can Get Out of Their Way
Immunity and Accountability
50 Shades of Government Immunity
Americans Deserve Their Day in Court: New study ranks states on access to justice and government accountability…
Immunity and Accountability
Recalibrating Qualified Immunity: How Tanzin v. Tanvir, Taylor v. Riojas, and McCoy v. Alamu Signal the Supreme Court’s Discomfort with the Doctrine of Qualified Immunity
Recent decisions by the Supreme Court offer the strongest signal in decades that the Court is ready to recalibrate its qualified immunity jurisprudence.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Frustrating, Corrupt, Unfair
Victims of civil forfeiture call it frustrating, corrupt and unfair. This first-of-its-kind survey describes the experiences of victims of one civil forfeiture program, Philadelphia’s.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Introducing a New Data Set on Municipal-Level Occupational Regulation
Purpose The purpose of this paper is to discuss new findings on municipal-level occupational licensing and other forms of regulation and introduce a new data set available for researchers to study this largely unexplored area.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Beauty School Debt and Drop-Outs
Cosmetology is one of the most widely and onerously regulated occupations for lower-income workers, yet little research has explored the experiences of aspiring beauty workers. This first-of-its-kind study takes advantage of federal educational…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Beauty School Debt and Drop-Outs
A January 2021 executive order requires Utah executive agencies to identify occupational regulations that are no longer necessary or can be reined in to reduce barriers to entry. One regulation that should be on the table is cosmetology…