Private Property Cases
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Private Property
Homeowner Sues Game Wardens Who Snuck onto His Property and Swiped a Camera
Virginia game wardens entered a family's property, seized their camera, and searched it—all without consent or a warrant.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Texas Sheriff’s Deputy Falsifies Traffic Offense to Justify Unwarranted Truck Search
Alek Schott partnered with IJ for a federal lawsuit against Bexar County deputies for illegally stopping him for a traffic violation that he didn’t commit, and then using the stop to detain him and search…
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 fined Chuck Saine over $50,000, the agency’s own employees served as prosecutor, judge, and jury.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
When the government seizes property from people without justification, and they have to spend money to get their property back, they deserve to be made whole.
Brian Moore fought to get his property back from the federal government and he won. In 2021, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents seized $8,500 in cash from him at Atlanta’s airport while he was…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Sparta, GA, 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.
Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
North Carolina Animal Sanctuary Fights Back Against Crushing Zoning Restrictions
Kimberly Dunckel founded Fairytale Farm Animal Sanctuary to rescue and care for animals on her 3.33-acre property, but Winston-Salem officials ordered her to close her sanctuary to the public.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
DeVillier v. Texas
Victory! In April 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit decision and ruled the DeVillier family can sue Texas for flooding caused by the state. Richie DeVillier lives on the same patch of…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
The FBI Hasn’t Said What This Couple Did Wrong, But Is Taking Their Savings Anyway
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.
First Amendment | Sign Codes | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
High school art class painted donut mural for bakery, town demands their work be painted over
Leavitt's Country Bakery Owner Sean Young filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Conway, after town officials demanded he paint over a mural that was created by local high school students last summer.
Housing Abundance and Affordability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
Lawsuit Challenges Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability Law—A Law That Makes Building Housing Unaffordable
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…
4th Amendment Project | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Arrested and Prosecuted for his Reporting, Citizen Journalist Defends His First Amendment Rights with Federal Lawsuit
Justin Pulliam, a citizen journalist in Texas, was arrested and prosecuted for his reporting on the activities of the Fort Bend County Sheriff. He is defending his First Amendment rights with a federal lawsuit.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Joint Task Force Immunity
It is well documented that St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker fabricated a crime ring and single-handedly ruined the lives of dozens of people, who she landed in federal prison through what one…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Man fights to uphold court ruling that judges aren't above the law
The Institute for Justice (IJ) teamed up with a West Virginia man whose rights were violated by a Raleigh County family court judge. IJ and Matthew Gibson are urging the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Indiana Supreme Court Rules Property Owners in Civil Forfeiture Cases are Entitled to a Jury Trial
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)…
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Couple Sues Alexandria Over Unconstitutional Traffic Stop and Roadside Interrogation
Mario Rosales and his girlfriend were pulled over for failing to signal, but a police camera clearly showed him signaling. Now Mario is suing over the Alexandria Police Department's "fishing trip" traffic stops.
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…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
California County Caught Fining Innocent Homeowners $10,000 Per Day for Offenses They Did Not Commit
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…
Private Property | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
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 | Housing Abundance and Affordability | Private Property | Right to Shelter | Zoning Justice Project
Meridian 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.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Lawsuit Appeal Asks Court If Deputy Should Get Immunity Even Though His Actions Landed Him in Prison
Mario Rosales was held at gunpoint by an off-duty sheriff's deputy even though he had done nothing wrong. Still, a court granted the officer qualified immunity and dismissed Mario's civil rights lawsuit.
4th Amendment Project | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Political Speech | Private Property
East Cleveland’s Government Weaponized its Police to Punish a Political Opponent. He’s Fighting to Hold It Accountable.
Cities can’t use the police to punish political speech.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
U.S. Supreme Court Appeal: Government Official with No Police Authority Pulled Over and Detained Drivers, Yet Granted Qualified Immunity
Can any government employee—such as a highway engineer who was never granted any police authority whatsoever—pull you over and detain you? Yes, at least if one federal appeals court gets its way.
4th Amendment Project | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Oakland Activist Sues to Hold Postal Officers Accountable for Illegal Search and Seizure of his Mail
The U.S. Post Office cannot open someone's mail without getting a warrant.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Former Texas Prosecutor Worked as a Law Clerk in His Own Cases, Giving the Government an Unfair Advantage Over Those He Prosecuted
Everybody knows your prosecutor can’t also be your judge. Everyone, that is, except for former Midland County, Texas, prosecutor Ralph Petty, his supervisor, and the county’s entire system of justice. Petty spent 20 years moonlighting…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Woman Appeals to Get $8,000 Back After Police Seized it Without Charging Her With Any Crime
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…
4th Amendment Project | 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 | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
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…