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.
All Cases
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Nurse Files Class Action Challenging CBP’s Abusive Civil Forfeiture Practices
Anthonia Nwaorie, a registered nurse and grandmother from Texas was flying to see family in Nigeria when Customs and Border Patrol took her life savings without ever charging her with a crime. So, she joined forces with IJ to challenge this unconstitutional money grab.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
There Are Limits: IJ Takes Excessive Fines Case to the U.S. Supreme Court
The Case Victory! On February 20, 2019 the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that states cannot impose excessive fines. State and…
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 less convicted, of a crime.
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.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
San Diego District Attorney Seizes Every Penny from a Local Family Without Charging Anyone with a Crime
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Innocent Couple Challenges Arizona’s Rigged Civil Forfeiture System
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Enforcing Landmark Civil Forfeiture Reforms To Shut Down An Unconstitutional Forfeiture Machine
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
IRS Seizes First, Questions Later— Much Later
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Highway Robbery in Muskogee
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fleecing Schools and Turning Law Enforcers Into Lawbreakers
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
This Ends Now: Enforcing New Mexico’s Landmark Civil Forfeiture Reform To Shut Down The Albuquerque Forfeiture Machine
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
Ordinary Americans Are Victims of Policing for Profit in Our Nation’s Airports
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.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Government Unreformed
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 seized his entire bank account, totalling more than $107,000. With that, Lyndon entered the upside down world of civil forfeiture, where the government can seize and keep ordinary Americans’ property without ever charging them with a crime.
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.
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.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Taken: Federal Lawsuit in Michigan Challenges Forfeiture Abuse
Without warning, the federal government used civil forfeiture to seize all of the money from the Dehkos’ store bank account—more than $35,000—even though they’ve done absolutely nothing wrong.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fighting Civil Forfeiture: Federal & Local Law Enforcement Agencies Team Up to Profit by Subverting California State Law
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
