IJ's Cases
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Burying Alabama’s Casket-Sales Cartel
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
City Established a Monopoly for the Only Taxi Business in Town, Preventing Competition and Prohibiting Consumer Choice
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fleecing Schools and Turning Law Enforcers Into Lawbreakers
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.
Private Property | Rental Inspections
Minnesota Landlords and Tenants Go to Court to Fight Unconstitutional Search of Homes
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Wisconsin Farmers Challenge State Ban on Selling Home-Baked Goods
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Montana Moms Seek to Restore School Choice Program that was Struck Down for Including Religious Options
On June 30, 2020, the U.S. Supreme Court decided one of the most important education reform cases in the past half-century. This landmark case held that the U.S. Constitution does not allow states to discriminate…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
This Ends Now: Enforcing New Mexico’s Landmark Civil Forfeiture Reform To Shut Down The Albuquerque Forfeiture Machine
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Class Action Lawsuit Challenges Policing for Profit in St. Louis Co. Municipal Court System
Case Video Complaint Latest Release…
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Breaking Down Government Barriers to African-Style Hair Braiding in Iowa
Economic Liberty | Vending
No One Should Need Their Competitors’ Permission to Operate a Business
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Nevada Parents Stand Up for School Choice and Join Lawsuit to Defend ESA Program
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Archdiocese of Newark Seeks to Bury New Jersey’s Anticompetitive Headstone Law
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
IJ to IRS: Give Back This Money
The message from the Institute for Justice, which represents Ken and Randy, to the IRS is simple: If you’ve taken something that doesn’t belong to you, give it back.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Government to Air Travelers: Sit Back, Give Us Your Cash and Enjoy Your Flight
Charles Clarke is one of thousands of Americans whose cash has been seized at an airport through civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement to seize cash and property without ever charging anyone with any crime.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Green Cab’s Story: Twenty-First Century Innovation Shut Out by Twentieth-Century Regulation
It is unconstitutional for the government to use its power to protect itself and other established businesses from competition. That is why Green Cab has partnered with the Institute for Justice (“IJ”) to challenge Bowling…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Government Unreformed: IRS Seizes $107,000 From Innocent Small Business, Despite Recent Policy Changes Meant To Prevent Exactly This Kind Of Case
Lyndon McLellan has spent more than a decade running L&M Convenience Mart, a gas station, restaurant, and convenience store in rural Fairmont, North Carolina. Then, one year ago, without any warning, agents from the IRS…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Consumers Aren’t Property, and Competition Isn’t Theft
In November 2014, San Diego joined a growing number of cities by lifting its decades-long cap on the number of cabs allowed on its streets. For Abdi Abdisalan and Abdullahi Hassan, the dream of going…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Private Property
Beer Bounty: Texas Craft Brewers Sue Over New Law That Requires Them to Give Part of Their Businesses to Distributors for Free
A Texas law is forcing craft brewers to give up millions of dollars of valuable property to politically connected beer distributors.
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.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
HELD UP: Feds Use Civil Forfeiture To Seize More than $446,000 From Innocent Family Business; Deny Hearing for More than Two Years.
The Hirsch brothers have done nothing wrong, yet the IRS seized their entire bank account.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
TAKEN: Feds Seize Family Restaurant’s Entire Bank Account Innocent Owners Fight Back
The IRS seized Carole’s money using civil forfeiture, which allows law enforcement agencies to take cash, cars and other property without so much as charging the property owner with a crime.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Florida School Choice: Tuition Tax Credits and Special Needs
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Cabbies Fight for Freedom: Victorious Cab Drivers Head Back to Court for Second Showdown with Milwaukee’s Taxi Cartel
In response to an IJ lawsuit, Milwaukee lifted its cap on the number of taxis. But the city’s powerful taxi cartel sued to block this reform. Now two cab drivers have again joined with IJ…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fighting the Philadelphia Forfeiture Machine: Philadelphia Deprives People of Their Rights While Trying to Forfeit and Profit from Their Property
Police and prosecutors use civil forfeiture to strip thousands of Americans of their rights and property. Nowhere is the problem more rampant than in Philadelphia.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Washington’s Illogical Restrictions on African Hair Braiding
Almost a decade after IJ successfully sued Washington state over its irrational hair braiding laws, officials once again tried to force natural hair braiders to become licensed cosmetologists.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Missouri’s Cosmetology Laws
If you want to braid hair for a living in Missouri, you must spend thousands of dollars on at least 1,500 hours of cosmetology training that teaches you nothing about African-style hair braiding.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Entrepreneurs from Arkansas' African Braiding Laws
Hair braiding is a simple and safe practice that the government has no business regulating. But in Arkansas, braiders may not sell their services unless they complete 1,500 hours of government-mandated cosmetology training, not one…