IJ's Cases
Featured Cases
Alaska Pilot Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Stop State from Taking His $95,000 Airplane for Passenger’s Beer
The Case April 3rd, 2012, began like any other day for Ken Jouppi, a longtime bush pilot in Alaska. He was scheduled to fly a passenger and her groceries from Fairbanks to the village of Beaver. Hidden in the passenger’s luggage, though, were two cases of Budweiser, along with four additional six-packs. They were intended as a gift to…
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U.S. Supreme Court Cases
IJ has argued 13 cases before the United States Supreme Court, winning 11. These landmark cases have expanded constitutional protections for all Americans.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
The FBI Raided the Wrong Home—the Government Refuses to Pay for the Damage
FBI agents raided the wrong home in suburban Atlanta. Now the federal government refuses to compensate the victims even though Congress passed a law permitting suits for damages caused by federal employees.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Taking on The Shell Games That Allow Federal/State Task Force Members To Violate Your Rights
After misidentifying him as a non-violent fugitive, police brutally beat James King, choked him unconscious, and then prosecuted him to hide their mistake.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Federal lawsuit seeks to revive the Fourth Amendment’s requirements for warrants
The Fourth Amendment requires that warrants be supported by “oath or affirmation” but that requirement means almost nothing today because of a decades old Supreme Court decision. Michael Mendenhall’s case could revive the original meaning and protect people from unreasonable searches.
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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 to ensure that the new ordinance takes effect and that they are free to own their own cabs.
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.
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.
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.
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 hour of which actually teaches how to braid hair.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Access Denied: Orthodontist’s Low-Cost Teeth Cleaning Program Shut Down Under Archaic Law That Limits Access to Care
Arkansas flat-out bans licensed dental specialists, like orthodontists, from doing even simple dental work outside of their specialty.
Economic Liberty | Eminent Domain | Private Property
Charlie's Home: How the Institute for Justice is helping one man fight To save his family home
An Atlantic City, N.J., man is fighting to save his family home from a state agency’s eminent domain abuse.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Georgia School Choice
Georgia’s school choice program gives thousands of parents an opportunity to find a school that best fits their children’s needs without using a single cent of state funds.
First Amendment | Political Speech
MINNESOTA CAMPAIGN SPEECH LIMITS
A Minnesota regulation dishes out First Amendment rights on a first-come, first-served basis.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
Teeth-Whitening Entrepreneur Challenges Dentists’ Monopoly in Georgia
In Georgia, entrepreneurs who offer teeth-whitening services can be charged with a felony, imprisoned for up to five years and fined thousands of dollars. Their crime? Selling the exact same teeth-whitening product sold in stores.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Ridesharing Drivers Fight Back; Join Lawsuit to Challenge Chicago’s Cab Cartels
Armed with little more than their smartphones and cars, a small group of entrepreneurs are driving innovation in an industry that has been dominated by a cartel of cab owners and a regulatory framework originally drafted in the early 20th century.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Animal Massage Therapists Now Free to Practice Their Craft in Arizona
Massage therapists do not need a medical degree to massage humans, but entrepreneurs who want to massage animals in Arizona must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to attend four years of veterinary school where they are not even required to learn animal massage.
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
North Carolina Parents Join Legal Battle To Defend School Choice Program
Through the Opportunity Scholarship Program, North Carolina is giving low-income families the same educational choices that wealthier families already enjoy.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Got Free Speech? Oregon Dairy Farmer Challenges Censorship of Raw Milk Advertising
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Baked Fresh, Baked Free: Challenging Minnesota’s Restrictions on Selling Home-Baked Goods
Minnesota has slammed the oven door on bakers trying to make a home-based business out of satisfying Minnesotans’ sweet tooth.
Food Freedom | Private Property | Zoning Justice Project
An Affront To Gardeners Everywhere: Miami Shores Forces Homeowners To Destroy Their Front-Yard Vegetable Garden
Miami Shores Village, Fla.’s unconstitutional ban on front-yard vegetable gardens prohibits homeowners from growing vegetables in their front yards. But trees, fruit and garden gnomes are just fine.