The Institute for Justice litigates to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. IJ defends ordinary people who want to earn an honest living, own and enjoy their property, speak freely, and give their children a good education but find that the government is standing in their way.

We fight to hold government officials accountable when they violate constitutional rights and to prevent governments at all levels from bending the rules to expand their power or advance illegitimate ends.

IJ wins three out of four cases through outright courtroom victories or legislative change prompted by our lawsuits.

IJ clients like Elijah and Ashley Durham stand for their rights and the rights of others.

Featured Cases

First Amendment

Detroit Retaliation

Four years ago, Robert Reeves’ car was seized by police in Detroit using civil forfeiture. Although he was never charged with a crime, police attempted to use civil forfeiture to seize and keep Robert’s 1991…

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Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property | Right to Shelter

Akron Homeless Advocate Sues for Right to Shelter the Homeless

Sage Lewis is using his commercial property to build a community for those experiencing homelessness, with the hope of helping them transition from the streets to permanent housing. The city of Akron is attempting to…

Economic Liberty | Vending

Food-Truck Owners Challenge Ban on Competition

In late August 2018, a little over a week after IJ launched a lawsuit, challenging Carolina Beach’s food truck restrictions, the town repealed its food truck restrictions due to the threat of IJ’s lawsuit.

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Outdated Federal Law Threatens Unique Richmond Publisher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…

Educational Choice

Washington Work Study

Summit Christian Academy wanted to hire college students to be tutors under the state’s work-study program, but Washington officials barred the academy from doing so, simply because it’s a religious school. After IJ got involved…

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…

Lactation, Laws, Mothers, Consultants, Babies

Economic Liberty | Health | Occupational Licensing

Georgia Lactation Consultants

For decades, Mary Jackson has worked as a lactation consultant, helping new moms and babies during a critical time in their lives. Then one day, Georgia passed the nation’s most restrictive licensing regime for lactation…

Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships

Puerto Rico School Choice

In March 2018, the Puerto Rican legislature enacted the Free School Selection Program, which gives needy families scholarships so that they can send their children to the school of their choice. A teachers’ union immediately…