First Amendment Cases
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Health | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Texas Veterinarian Renews Fight to Give Professional Advice Online
Ron Hines is a veterinarian who offers advice online to customers all over the country, but Texas said his speech was illegal. Now his case can move ahead on First Amendment grounds.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Outdated Federal Law Threatens Unique Richmond Publisher
Valancourt Books, in Richmond, Virginia, has partnered with IJ to challenge a federal law that requires book publishers to provide two free copies of every book it publishes or face fines that could total in…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Mississippi Regulatory Board Sues Tech Entrepreneurs to Prevent Competition
An overly-broad statute defined a small mapping company in Mississippi as an “unlicensed surveying” company. This statute would have shut down Vizaline, but with help from IJ, Vizaline fought back to protect its First Amendment…
Commercial Speech | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Food Freedom | Food Freedom
Maryland Dairy Farmers Sue for Right to Tell the Truth
The FDA prevented Randy Sowers from labelling his skim milk as “skim milk” even though that’s exactly what it is. The First Amendment protects Randy’s right to tell the truth about his product, and after…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Speech
Lawsuit Challenges California Law Criminalizing Teaching Trade Skills
California used to require individuals to get a high school degree or equivalent if they wanted to enroll in a trade school, like Bob Smith’s horseshoeing school. After IJ stepped in on Bob’s behalf, the…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Florida Health Coach Threatened with Jail and Big Fines for Merely Offering Dietary Advice
Florida requires a license in order to provide dietary advice to a customer. Diet advice is simply a type of speech that should be protected by the First Amendment, and that’s why Heather Kokesch Del…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
License to Teach: North Carolina Forces Makeup Artists to Teach Unrelated Skills or Face Thousands in Fines
Jasna Bukvic-Bhayani is a North Carolina-based professional makeup artist who wanted to open up a school to teach others how to apply makeup like her. But the state wanted her to open a full-fledged esthetics…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Illegal Math? A state board in Oregon is punishing people for talking about traffic lights and any other “engineering” topics
Mats Järlström is an engineer, and he used those skills to criticize the formula used on red lights, suggesting the yellow lights should last a little longer. He was hit with a $500 fine from…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Sign Codes
Video game store sues to protect its inflatable Mario sign
The town of Orange Park, Florida banned Scott Fisher from putting an inflatable blow-up of the video game character Mario in front of his video game store. IJ and Scott challenged the town’s law that…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Recent Court of Appeals Ruling Disarms Political Speakers, Empowers Campaign Finance Bullies
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Charleston Tour Guides Challenge Unconstitutional License to Talk
First Amendment | Political Speech
Colorado’s private-enforcement law empowers political insiders to silence any ordinary speaker they disagree with.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Censored in Florida: Creamery Owner Sues to End Labeling Censorship
Ocheesee Creamery is censored from honestly labeling its skim milk as skim milk.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Government Cannot Decide Who Is, Or Is Not, Allowed To Tell A Story
Tour guides are storytellers, and the government can’t be in the business of deciding who is (or who is not) allowed to tell stories.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Donors, Candidates Sue to Overturn Restrictive Campaign Finance Law: Minnesota Regulation Dishes Out First Amendment Rights on a First-Come, First-Served Basis
A Minnesota regulation dishes out First Amendment rights on a first-come, first-served basis.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Got Free Speech? Oregon Dairy Farmer Challenges Censorship of Raw Milk Advertising
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Sign Codes
Sacramento Sign Police Target Small Business: Gym Tells City It Needs To Get With The Program
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.
First Amendment
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 | 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.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Putting a New Face on Liberty: Nevada Makeup Artists Fight for Their Right to Teach
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.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Caveman Blogger Fights for Free Speech and Internet Freedom: Challenging the Government’s Authority to Censor Ordinary Advice
This caveman blogger fought for free speech and Internet freedom.
First Amendment | Sign Codes
Federal Appellate Court OKs City’s Crackdown on Protest Sign: 4th Circuit fails to protect Norfolk business’ eminent domain protest banner; lawyers, business owners vow appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
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 | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Challenging New Orleans’ Tour-Guide Licensing Scheme
First Amendment
Arizona Citizen Files First Amendment Lawsuit Challenging Speech Regulations
Arizona wants to bar people from joining together to protest local ballot measures without first registering with the government.
First Amendment
Protecting Citizen Speech: Lawsuit Challenging Constitutionality of Mississippi Campaign Finance Regulations Continues Nationwide Campaign
Thanks to Mississippi’s burdensome campaign finance laws, groups of concerned citizens need more than just their opinions to speak about politics. They also need a lawyer.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Sign Codes
IJ Fights to Unleash Free Speech: Challenging Arlington, Virginia’s Unconstitutional Sign Ordinance
First Amendment | Political Speech