Rule of Law Cases
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Chicago Homeowner Sues After Warrantless Raid by Federal Agents
When federal agents ransack an innocent homeowner’s private property without a warrant, it’s a clear violation of the Constitution, and there must be a way to hold them accountable.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Long Island Man Fights for His Day in Court
An experienced electrician was badly shocked due to a government employee's mistake. Now, he's fighting for his day in court.
Fines and Fees | Private Property | Rule of Law
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will decide whether the government’s fining a retiree out of his life’s savings for a paperwork violation is an “excessive fine.”
The Case Eighty-eight-year-old retiree Tuncay Saydam is at risk of losing his life’s savings. Not because of a bad investment or a fraudulent scheme. Rather, the federal government is trying to…
4th Amendment Project | License Plate Readers | Rule of Law | Warrantless Surveillance
San Jose residents file federal lawsuit challenging city's use of nearly 500 license plate reader cameras
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 | Rule of Law
Atlanta Woman Sues Officers, U.S. Government for Wrongly Raiding Her Home in Search of Man Already in Jail
More than a dozen heavily armed law enforcement officers stormed Cathy George's apartment, looking for a fugitive who had no connection to Cathy and who was already in custody.
Rule of Law | Unjust Proceedings
Small Kentucky Farm Fights Federal Government for a Fair Trial
David and Debbie Ross of Triple R Farms are fighting for their constitutional right to a real court and jury trial.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Portland Family Files Lawsuit After SWAT Team Arrested Innocent 16-Year-Old at Gunpoint
Parents sue after a SWAT team detained their innocent 16-year-old son at gunpoint as he walked to lunch.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Dallas Bar Owner Asks Supreme Court to Let His Suit Over Bogus Prosecution Move Forward
A Dallas bar owner asks the Supreme Court to deny immunity to the police detective who led a bogus investigation against him.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
US Citizen and Army Veteran George Retes Sues Over Unconstitutional Immigration Detention
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 | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law
U.S. Citizen Demands End to Unconstitutional Raids and Detentions
A U.S. citizen, who was wrongly detained twice, is suing to stop unconstitutional raids on private construction sites.
Fines and Fees | Rule of Law
Alaska Pilot Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Stop State from Taking His $95,000 Airplane for Passenger’s Beer
The Case April 3rd, 2012, began like any other day for Ken Jouppi, a longtime bush pilot in Alaska. He was scheduled to fly a passenger and her groceries from Fairbanks…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
Albuquerque Bookstore Owner Partners with IJ to Defend Right to Provide Safe, Private Shelter
Gil Kerley, owner of Quirky Used Books & More in Albuquerque, New Mexico, sought to address the city’s worsening homelessness crisis by providing a safe and private space for homeless people…
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Woman Traumatized by False Arrest Sues US Marshals
Penny McCarthy was mistaken for another woman and violently arrested by armed U.S. Marshals. She is suing over the violation of her Fourth Amendment rights.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Federal lawsuit seeks to revive the Fourth Amendment's requirements for warrants
The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be supported by "oath or affirmation" but that requirement means almost nothing today because of a decades old Supreme Court decision. Michael Mendenhall's case could revive the original meaning and protect people from unreasonable searches.
4th Amendment Project | Rule of Law | Warrantless Surveillance
Small Businesses Threatened by Financial Surveillance Order File Suit Against the Federal Government
Money services businesses challenged a federal surveillance order requiring reports on low-dollar cash transactions near the southwest border.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Innocent Family Seeks to Hold SWAT Team Accountable for Raiding the Wrong Home
A North Carolina family is seeking to hold SWAT teams accountable for raiding the wrong home in April 2024.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Smalltown Newspaper Punished for its Reporting Fights for the First Amendment
Four residents of a small Alabama county were targeted for retaliation by a district attorney and sheriff. Now, they are suing with IJ to protect their constitutional rights.
4th Amendment Project | License Plate Readers | Rule of Law | Warrantless Surveillance
Federal lawsuit challenges city's prolonged, warrantless surveillance of entire driving public
Norfolk, Virginia has installed more than 170 cameras across the city that watch drivers' every movement. Now, two Norfolk-area residents have teamed up with the Institute for Justice to file a federal lawsuit challenging the program.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
The FBI Raided the Wrong Home—the Government Refuses to Pay for the Damage
FBI agents raided the wrong home in suburban Atlanta. Now the federal government refuses to compensate the victims even though Congress passed a law permitting suits for damages caused by federal employees.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Woman Seeks to Hold Police Accountable for Mistaken Identity Arrest
An innocent Texas woman was arrested in a case of mistaken identity while getting off a cruise in 2022. Now, she's suing Broward County for the unconstitutional arrest.
Rule of Law | Unjust Proceedings
Property Owner Sues Macon-Bibb County Over Unconstitutional Home Demolition Practice
Macon-Bibb County has demolished hundreds of homes in a secret process. One homeowner, whose house was demolished while he was actively renovating it, is fighting back.
Fines and Fees | Private Property | Rule of Law
Santa Clara Winery Sues to End Unconstitutional Zoning Code Fines
Owners of a historic vineyard and winery provided safe, affordable housing for their long-time employee and his family. For that, they have been fined more than $120,000.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
New petition asks Supreme Court to let woman’s suit against her abuser’s enabler move forward after nearly a decade in court.
Desiree Martinez bravely reported to the police the abuse she had suffered at the hands of her boyfriend, Kyle Pennington. But Pennington was a police officer, and came from a family…
Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Courts Say City Owes Her Over $200,000; But Now She Has to Sue Again to Get Paid
Courts say Okay, Oklahoma owes Melisa Robinson for damaging her property. But the city won't pay. That violates her Fifth Amendment right to just compensation.
First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Murphy v. Schmitt
Have you ever heard of someone being arrested and sent to jail for walking on the wrong side of the road? Probably not — because police officers never, or almost never,…
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Lawsuit Seeks Accountability for Unconstitutional Raid of a Political Opponent’s Home
Kansas police raided the home of a city councilwoman and seized her phone and computer in retaliation for her criticism of local officials.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Family seeks to hold officer accountable after he led SWAT raid at wrong house
Everyone who visits a home for the first time—including delivery drivers, plumbers, and Girl Scouts—knows that you have to make sure you have the right address before barging in. Somehow, Waxahachie Police Department (WPD) Lieutenant Mike Lewis didn’t get the memo. In the dead of night, Lewis directed a heavily armed SWAT team to storm a home in which the innocent Karen Jimerson was getting ready for bed while her loved ones slept.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Virginia food truck owners file federal lawsuit after raging town councilmember damaged truck, town council repeatedly harassed them
Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien are a married couple that immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2005. They received asylum, settled in Parksley, Virginia, and opened a brick-and-mortar store that caters to the needs of the Eastern Shore’s Haitian population. But the town repeatedly harassed them, so they teamed up with IJ to file a federal lawsuit.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
A Police Raid Wrecked Her Home; Now a South Bend Mom Fights for Compensation
In South Bend, a SWAT team raided the wrong home, leaving a single mom with thousands of dollars in damage not covered by insurance. She is suing for compensation.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Tennessee Couple Fights for Compensation After SWAT Team Destroys Their Home
Who pays when the government destroys private property for a public purpose, such as getting a fugitive off the streets? The answer should be clear: if the government breaks it, the…
