Featured Cases
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
George Retes Federal Officer Accountability
Ventura, California
George Retes, a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran, was detained for three days after encountering an ICE roadblock on his way to work.
4th Amendment Project | License Plate Readers | Private Property
San Jose License Plate Readers
San Jose residents file federal class action lawsuit challenging city’s use of nearly 500 license plate read cameras.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Georgia Botched Raid
An ordinary, quiet morning turned into a nightmare for Cathy George. More than a dozen heavily armed law enforcement officers stormed her apartment, looking for a fugitive who had no connection to Cathy and who…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
U.S. Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards
In 2016, the Department of Labor demanded $550,000 from a family farm in southern New Jersey. In their case, the agency served as prosecutor, judge, and jury, and the agency won every time. The brothers…
IJ Protects COnstitutional Rights
The Institute for Justice litigates to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. IJ defends ordinary people who want to earn an honest living, own and enjoy their property, speak freely, and give their children a good education but find that the government is standing in their way.
We fight to hold government officials accountable when they violate constitutional rights and to prevent governments at all levels from bending the rules to expand their power or advance illegitimate ends.
4th Amendment Project | Economic Liberty | Private Property | Vending
Chicago Food Trucks
Chicago shouldn’t be in the business of protecting restaurants from food trucks.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Nevada Makeup
The government cannot require teachers to spend hundreds of hours in a classroom to learn skills that have nothing to do with what they teach.
Virginia Certificate of Need
Virginia’s certificate of need program actually makes it illegal to offer new medical services or purchase certain types of medical equipment without first obtaining a special permission slip from the government.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Free Speech
This caveman blogger fought for free speech and Internet freedom.
Norfolk, VA Sign
In a double blow to free speech and property rights, Norfolk, Va., tried not only to take a thriving business through its power of eminent domain but also censor a highly visible sign that protested…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Portland Sedans
Portland, Ore., cannot constitutionally set transportation prices and make limousine and sedan customers wait for service merely to protect taxis from competition.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
IRS Tax Preparers
IJ successfully challenged the IRS’s authority to license tax return preparers. If the licensing scheme had not been struck down, some 350,000 tax return preparers would have been burdened by the new regulations, much to…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Connecticut Teeth Whitening
Connecticut’s prohibition on non-dentist teeth whitening was never about protecting consumers; it was about protecting dentists from honest competition.
Fountain Hills, Ariz. Speech
Arizona wants to bar people from joining together to protest local ballot measures without first registering with the government.