IJ's Cases
Economic Liberty | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Home-based businesses offer people an accessible path to entrepreneurship, but many are illegal in Music City
Lij Shaw and Pat Raynor both run successful businesses within their own homes – one a recording studio, the other a hair salon. But one day, the city of Nashville threatened them with fines unless…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Wyoming law enforcement pressures drivers to sign a form “giving” their cash to law enforcement agencies and waiving any right to court proceedings.
IJ successfully represented Phil Parhamovich, a musician from Madison, Wisconsin who had his life savings of $91,800 seized by Wyoming law enforcement during a traffic stop on I-80 near Cheyenne. Phil was never charged, much…
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…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Border Patrol Agents Used a Flimsy Excuse to Seize A Man’s Truck, Then Held It for Two Years, Refusing His Requests for a Hearing. He Is Now Appealing His Case to the U.S. Supreme Court, Calling for Prompt Hearings After Vehicle Seizures
Border Patrol Agents used a flimsy excuse to seize Gerardo Serrano’s truck, then held it for two years. IJ asked the Supreme Court to hear Gerardo’s case, but unfortunately the court declined to do so.
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…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Jarreau v. South LaFourche Levee District
On behalf of a Louisiana dirt farmer, IJ filed a cert petition to the United States Supreme Court to determine if the government must pay you for losses incurred when it destroys your business through…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Vacation Property Manager Challenges Pennsylvania Real Estate Cartel
Sally helps people list their homes for short-term vacation rentals, but one day she received a call from the Pennsylvania Department of State arguing she was engaging in unlicensed real estate. She was told she…
Economic Liberty | Vending
How Louisville Helps Restaurants Shut Down Their Food-Truck Competition, and How IJ Is Going to Stop It.
City Council members in Louisville worked closely with established brick-and-mortar restaurants to keep out food truck competition. IJ secured a federal court order barring the city from discriminating against food trucks and then successfully worked…
Economic Liberty | Health
Ending Iowa's CON Laws That Limit Medical Options and Enrich Established Businesses
For more than twenty years, Dr. Lee Birchansky tried to offer his patients the option of having their cataract and other outpatient eye surgeries in a center right next to his office in Cedar Rapids.
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…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Wine
Minnesota Farm Wineries Fight for Free Trade
A little-known but onerous state law prevented Minnesota vineyards from making a majority of their wine from grapes grown outside Minnesota. IJ partnered with two vineyards to fight this law, and eventually a federal district…
Private Property | Rental Inspections
Pennsylvania Tenants and Landlord Challenge Unconstitutional Inspections of Homes
Pottstown, Pennsylvania has a rental inspection law that forces landlords and tenants to open their properties and homes to submit to intrusive inspections. On behalf of multiple tenants and a landlord, IJ is challenging this…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Eminent Domain in Disguise: Putting an End to Charlestown, Ind.’s Unconstitutional Home Inspection Scheme
A small-town mayor in rural Indiana has made it his personal mission to oust the residents of a tight-knit working-class neighborhood, bulldoze their homes and build a fancy new subdivision for much wealthier people. The…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
San Diego District Attorney Seizes Every Penny from a Local Family Without Charging Anyone with a Crime
Economic Liberty | Health | Occupational Licensing
South Carolina Clamps Down On Online Medicine to Protect Profits of Established Businesses
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Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Waive Your Rights or Else: Challenging NYPD’s Use of “No-Fault” Eviction to Compel Innocent Residents and Businesses to Give Up Constitutional Rights
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Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Innocent Couple Challenges Arizona’s Rigged Civil Forfeiture System
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Eminent Domain | Private Property
Stopping Kelo From Happening Again
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Enforcing Landmark Civil Forfeiture Reforms To Shut Down An Unconstitutional Forfeiture Machine
First Amendment | Political Speech
Recent Court of Appeals Ruling Disarms Political Speakers, Empowers Campaign Finance Bullies
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Georgia Land Grab: City Seeks to Bulldoze Family-owned Small Business
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Hanging by a Thread: Louisiana Eyebrow Threaders Fight for the Right to Earn an Honest Living
Lata Jagtiani, Ushaben Chudasama and Panna Shah have partnered with the Institute for Justice to fight for her right to earn an honest living threading eyebrows in Louisiana.
Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Dallas Auto Mechanic Challenges Constitutionality of Retroactive Zoning
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
IRS Seizes First, Questions Later— Much Later
Economic Liberty | Vending
Food Truck Entrepreneurs Sue City Over Vending Law
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Broken Brake Light Leads to Oklahoma Sheriff Taking Tens of Thousands of Dollars From Burmese Christian Band, Church, and Orphanage
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships