Private Property Cases
4th Amendment Project | Private Property
The government can’t steal your cameras and use them to spy on you
Josh Highlander’s son is afraid of the boogeyman. While playing with his mother in the yard, their basketball rolled toward the woods. She was shocked to see a figure standing in their woods wearing a…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Lawsuit Challenges Department of Labor’s Use of Administrative Law Judges to Hand Down Ruinous Fines
When the Department of Labor decided to fine Chuck Saine tens of thousands of dollars, Chuck did not get to make his case to a jury of his peers—or even a real federal judge. Instead,…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Group of Property Owners Team Up to Fight Back Against Private Railroad’s Attempt to Take Their Property
A group of property owners in Sparta, Georgia has teamed up to fight back against a private railroad's attempt to take their land.
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Winston-Salem Tries to Control Who Can Visit Private Property
Kimberly Dunckel and her family founded Fairytale Farm Animal Sanctuary to give neglected and special-needs farm animals a “happily ever after.” Their 3.3-acre property provides a place where the public could learn from and…
Private Property
Devillier Cert Petition
“If you break it, you buy it” is a simple rule that anyone who has shopped at a Pottery Barn probably already knows. It means that if you cause damage to someone else’s property, you…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Class Action Challenges FBI’s “Take Now, Explain Never” Forfeitures
Linda Martin's home savings were seized by the FBI. She received a confusing forfeiture notice that didn't clearly say what she did wrong for the government to want to take her money.
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Seattle Housing Affordability
Seattle's Mandatory Housing Affordability law is making it unaffordable to build housing.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Private Property | Vending
Small business owners sue to strike down Jacksonville regulations effectively banning food trucks from city
Jacksonville, North Carolina effectively bans food trucks from operating in 96 percent of the city. That's why a group of small business owners has teamed up with the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit…
Private Property
Indiana Jury Trials
Indiana Jury Trials The right to a trial by jury is fundamental to our system of justice. Particularly when the government is trying to confiscate property, the jury (as one court has put it) “stands…
4th Amendment Project | Private Property
Michigan Homeowners Fight to Vindicate Fourth Amendment Protections Against Warrantless Surveillance Using Drones
Todd and Heather Maxon live on a five-acre property in rural Long Lake Township, in northern Michigan. Todd spends his free time fixing up and tinkering with cars and other vehicles. He keeps those vehicles…
Private Property
Humboldt Abatements
In Humboldt County, the government issues ruinous fines for things people didn’t do because it doesn’t bother to investigate. Innocent landowners then have to appeal the fines to prove their innocence at a hearing the…
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Auto Shop Fights City to Save U-Haul Business
A South Carolina town changed its zoning regulations and ordered a small automotive business to stop renting U-Hauls. The owners are now fighting back.
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
Homeowner Fights Back Against NYC's "Unreviewable" Fines System
Serafim Katergaris was forced to pay $1,000 to the New York Department of Buildings (DOB) for a code violation he did not commit, did not know about and had no chance to challenge. Now, he's…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Federal Government Seeks to Impose Multimillion Dollar Excessive Fine on Grandmother, Claiming a Fine is a “Civil Penalty.”
An Boston-area grandmother is fighting to have courts consider whether the multimillion-dollar penalty the government imposed on is unconstitutionally excessive.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Private Property | Right to Shelter
Woman fights city’s ban on living in tiny homes on wheels, which has left her homeless
Chasidy Decker is a native to the Boise area who wants to live in the tiny home that suits her.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Police seized an innocent woman’s $8,040, and now she is fighting to have her day in court
Cristal Starling runs a mobile food cart in Rochester, New York, to provide for herself and her grandnephew. She dreamed of expanding the business into a food truck, and she saved enough money to do…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
People abused by small town’s “policing for profit” file class action seeking accountability
Victims of Brookside, Alabama's policing abuses filed a class action to affirm that police must act in the interest of justice, not their pocketbooks…
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Home day care provider sues city after officials shut her down over complaints from golfers
Bianca King is a single mother with two young children. Until recently, she was able to raise her 2-and 4-year-old kids while making a living running a small day care out of her home. But…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Armored Car Company Sues Federal Law Enforcement and a California Sheriff After Series of Illegal Roadside Seizures
An armored car company sued after a California sheriff teamed up with federal law enforcement to take proceeds from legal cannabis businesses.
4th Amendment Project | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Landowners sue to stop warrantless searches
For years, wildlife officers in Pennsylvania have been ignoring the privacy rights of hunters under the so-called “open fields doctrine,” which posits that private land doesn’t receive privacy protections. This IJ suit challenges the constitutionality…
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Mechanic challenges city of Pasadena's mandatory parking minimum
Azael Sepulveda recently purchased a new mechanic shop, but the city of Pasadena will not let him open until he provides 28 parking spaces, which he does not need. Azael has partnered with IJ to…
4th Amendment Project | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Small Business Owner Sues to Stop Ohio’s “Whenever, Wherever” Inspections
A taxidermist was threatened with jail time after he asked a wildlife officer to get a warrant before searching his property. With the help of IJ, he’s fighting back to protect the privacy rights of…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
In many counties, private lawyers prosecute civil forfeiture cases—and take a cut of the money
In Indiana, prosecutors profit off the civil forfeiture cases they prosecute, creating perverse incentives that strips Hoosiers of their basic due process rights. A federal class action lawsuit from IJ seeks to end for-profit prosecutions…
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property | Right to Shelter
Georgia Nonprofit Fights City’s Ban on Small Homes
Tiny House Hand Up is a nonprofit that builds affordable tiny homes for people in Calhoun, Georgia. But the city of Calhoun’s unconstitutional ban on building tiny homes has prevented THHU from helping people in…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Challenging Wilmington’s tow-and-impound racket, which pays private tow companies by letting them keep and scrap cars.
Wilmington, Delaware partners with a private towing company to tow any car that has more than $200 in unpaid parking fines. The private company makes a profit and Wilmington demands excessive fines in order to…
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Family Farm Facing Ruinous Fines for Paperwork Mistake Sues Agency that Acts as Prosecutor, Judge and Jury
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…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Highway Robbery in Reno: Nevada Cops Use Civil Forfeiture To Steal a Veteran’s Life Savings
Marine veteran Stephen Lara was left on the side of the highway in Nevada without any money, after police took his life savings without ever charging him with any wrongdoing. Stephen has teamed up with…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Texas Forfeiture II
Harris County, Texas, has an unconstitutional financial incentive for law enforcement to seize property and cash excessively without probable cause, often sweeping up innocent people in the process. Ameal Woods and Jordan Davis are two…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Innocent New Orleans Man Fights the Federal Government for His Life Savings
DEA agents took Kermit Warren’s life savings from him when he was traveling to purchase a new truck for his tow truck business. They never charged Kermit with a crime. With IJ’s help, Kermit was…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Indiana Forfeiture Defense Appeal
The state of Indiana is attempting to make Terry Abbott win back his seized money in court without a lawyer. However, IJ has stepped in to defend Terry on appeal and is urging the court…