Featured Cases
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Alaska Pilot Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Stop State from Taking His $95,000 Airplane for Passenger’s Beer
Alaska
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 her husband,…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
US Citizen and Army Veteran George Retes Sues Over Unconstitutional Immigration Detention
George Retes, a U.S. citizen and Iraq War veteran, was detained for three days after encountering an ICE roadblock on his way to work.
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Family Farm Facing Ruinous Fines Sues Agency that Acts as Prosecutor, Judge and Jury
In 2016, the Department of Labor demanded $550,000 from a family farm in southern New Jersey. In their case, the agency served as prosecutor, judge, and jury, and the agency won every time. The brothers…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Stiffed by a Pipeline Company Wielding Eminent Domain, Plains Ranchers Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
North Dakota ranchers fought a pipeline company with eminent domain power for the fair value of their land. But an appeals court said the company did not have to pay the ranchers’ attorney fees. That…
IJ Protects COnstitutional Rights
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.
See IJ’s Supreme Court Cases
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…
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.
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.
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
Alabama Parents Join Legal Battle To Protect School Choice
Alabama has created a unique, refundable tax credit program that offers a lifeline to families to help them escape failing public schools if they lack the financial resources to do so.
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Should African hair braiders have to build an entire barber college and become barbering instructors just to teach hair braiding? Texas officials think so.
Texas tried to force natural hair braiding schools to convert into fully-equipped barber colleges—solely to teach hair braiding—even though braiders aren’t barbers.
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.
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Hillsborough County Transportation Commission vs. Consumers, a Driver and a Small Business: Government Commission Forces Consumers to Pay More; Prevents Competition and Job Creation
The Public Transportation Commission in Hillsborough County, Fla., forces customers to overpay for limousine services and prevents small business owners from offering better deals to potential customers.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Psychology Board Censors Advice Column: America’s Longest-Running Advice Columnist Files Free Speech Lawsuit After Being Threatened with Jail and Told to Stop Publishing His Column in Kentucky
John Rosemond’s lawsuit defends freedom of speech and freedom of the press from government officials who believe that it can be a crime in America to express an opinion in a newspaper.
Washington’s Public Disclosure Commission vs. America’s Civil Rights Laws: Government Agency Seeks to Silence Not Only Citizen Activists, But Their Public Interest Lawyers, Too
A government agency whose job it is to limit political debate is now seeking to drastically restrict free civil rights advocacy—advocacy that has guided our nation in living up to its ideals of freedom and…