IJ's Cases
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Cabbies Fight for Freedom: Victorious Cab Drivers Head Back to Court for Second Showdown with Milwaukee’s Taxi Cartel
In response to an IJ lawsuit, Milwaukee lifted its cap on the number of taxis. But the city’s powerful taxi cartel sued to block this reform. Now two cab drivers have again joined with IJ…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fighting the Philadelphia Forfeiture Machine: Philadelphia Deprives People of Their Rights While Trying to Forfeit and Profit from Their Property
Police and prosecutors use civil forfeiture to strip thousands of Americans of their rights and property. Nowhere is the problem more rampant than in Philadelphia.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Washington’s Illogical Restrictions on African Hair Braiding
Almost a decade after IJ successfully sued Washington state over its irrational hair braiding laws, officials once again tried to force natural hair braiders to become licensed cosmetologists.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Missouri’s Cosmetology Laws
If you want to braid hair for a living in Missouri, you must spend thousands of dollars on at least 1,500 hours of cosmetology training that teaches you nothing about African-style hair braiding.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Arkansas' African Braiding Laws
Hair braiding is a simple and safe practice that the government has no business regulating. But in Arkansas, braiders may not sell their services unless they complete 1,500 hours of government-mandated cosmetology training, not one…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Access Denied: Orthodontist’s Low-Cost Teeth Cleaning Program Shut Down Under Archaic Law That Limits Access to Care
Arkansas flat-out bans licensed dental specialists, like orthodontists, from doing even simple dental work outside of their specialty.
Economic Liberty | Eminent Domain | Private Property
Charlie's Home: How the Institute for Justice is helping one man fight To save his family home
An Atlantic City, N.J., man is fighting to save his family home from a state agency’s eminent domain abuse.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Georgia School Choice
Georgia’s school choice program gives thousands of parents an opportunity to find a school that best fits their children’s needs without using a single cent of state funds.
First Amendment | Political Speech
MINNESOTA CAMPAIGN SPEECH LIMITS
A Minnesota regulation dishes out First Amendment rights on a first-come, first-served basis.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Teeth-Whitening Entrepreneur Challenges Dentists’ Monopoly in Georgia
In Georgia, entrepreneurs who offer teeth-whitening services can be charged with a felony, imprisoned for up to five years and fined thousands of dollars. Their crime? Selling the exact same teeth-whitening product sold in stores.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Ridesharing Drivers Fight Back; Join Lawsuit to Challenge Chicago’s Cab Cartels
Armed with little more than their smartphones and cars, a small group of entrepreneurs are driving innovation in an industry that has been dominated by a cartel of cab owners and a regulatory framework originally…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Animal Massage Therapists Now Free to Practice Their Craft in Arizona
Massage therapists do not need a medical degree to massage humans, but entrepreneurs who want to massage animals in Arizona must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend four years of veterinary school where…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
North Carolina Parents Join Legal Battle To Defend School Choice Program
Through the Opportunity Scholarship Program, North Carolina is giving low-income families the same educational choices that wealthier families already enjoy.
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Baked Fresh, Baked Free: Challenging Minnesota’s Restrictions on Selling Home-Baked Goods
Minnesota has slammed the oven door on bakers trying to make a home-based business out of satisfying Minnesotans’ sweet tooth.
Food Freedom | Private Property | Zoning Justice Project
An Affront To Gardeners Everywhere: Miami Shores Forces Homeowners To Destroy Their Front-Yard Vegetable Garden
Miami Shores Village, Fla.’s unconstitutional ban on front-yard vegetable gardens prohibits homeowners from growing vegetables in their front yards. But trees, fruit and garden gnomes are just fine.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Alabama Parents Join Legal Battle To Protect School Choice
Alabama has created a unique, refundable tax credit program that offers a lifeline to families to help them escape failing public schools if they lack the financial resources to do so.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Should African hair braiders have to build an entire barber college and become barbering instructors just to teach hair braiding? Texas officials think so.
Texas tried to force natural hair braiding schools to convert into fully-equipped barber colleges—solely to teach hair braiding—even though braiders aren’t barbers.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Taken: Federal Lawsuit in Michigan Challenges Forfeiture Abuse
Without warning, the federal government used civil forfeiture to seize all of the money from the Dehkos’ store bank account—more than $35,000—even though they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Hillsborough County Transportation Commission vs. Consumers, a Driver and a Small Business: Government Commission Forces Consumers to Pay More; Prevents Competition and Job Creation
The Public Transportation Commission in Hillsborough County, Fla., forces customers to overpay for limousine services and prevents small business owners from offering better deals to potential customers.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Psychology Board Censors Advice Column: America’s Longest-Running Advice Columnist Files Free Speech Lawsuit After Being Threatened with Jail and Told to Stop Publishing His Column in Kentucky
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.
Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission vs. America’s Civil Rights Laws: Government Agency Seeks to Silence Not Only Citizen Activists, But Their Public Interest Lawyers, Too
A government agency whose job it is to limit political debate is now seeking to drastically restrict free civil rights advocacy—advocacy that has guided our nation in living up to its ideals of freedom and…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Alabama Smiles: Entrepreneurs Fight Back Against Teeth-Whitening Monopolies
Alabama’s prohibition on non-dentist teeth whitening has nothing to do with protecting consumers and everything to do with protecting monopoly profits for dentists.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Health | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Retired Texas Vet’s Free-Speech Fight to Keep Helping Animals
The First Amendment should apply to licensed professionals who give advice over the Internet.
4th Amendment Project | Economic Liberty | Private Property | Vending
Sweet Home Chicago?: Food Trucks Get the Cold Shoulder in the Windy City
Chicago shouldn’t be in the business of protecting restaurants from food trucks.