Institute for Justice
December 2016, Volume 25, Issue 6
Double Victory
In October, IJ scored not one but two major federal court victories for transportation freedom—and they both happened on the same day. These ground-breaking decisions serve to solidify the ability of cities to push aside outdated protectionist regulations in order to make way for new entrepreneurs. The first case came out of Milwaukee. Longtime readers…
IJ Is a Steady and Cutting-Edge Force for Liberty
As IJ closes out its 25th year, we are seeing our long-term strategy in key mission areas yield tangible results. At the same time, we are laying the groundwork for new challenges to government efforts to curtail individual liberty in the decades to come. IJ has been focused on the pillars of our mission—economic liberty,…
IJ Receives Charity Navigator’s Highest Rating 15 Years Running
For the 15th consecutive year, IJ has earned Charity Navigator’s highest four-star rating for demonstrating strong financial health and a commitment to accountability and transparency. This is Charity Navigator’s highest possible rating. In awarding IJ the four-star designation again this year, Charity Navigator wrote: Less than 1 percent of the charities we evaluate have received…
IJ Returns to Connecticut to Defeat Eminent Domain Abuse
Eleven years after Kelo v. City of New London, IJ has returned to Connecticut to remind government bureaucrats that eminent domain abuse is wrong and unconstitutional. Many readers will recall that in 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court shocked the nation when it upheld the condemnation of an entire neighborhood in New London for “economic development.”…
Nevada Supreme Court Upholds School Choice Program
IJ and Nevada parents recently set a landmark legal precedent when the Nevada Supreme Court upheld the state’s nearly universal Education Savings Account (ESA) program. Open to every student who has attended a public school for at least 100 days, the program deposits approximately $5,000 each year into an account that allows parents to individualize…
A Roadmap for School Choice Success
Are school choice programs constitutional? As explained in the second edition of School Choice and State Constitutions—a joint publication of IJ and the American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC)—the answer in nearly every state is “yes, if they are designed properly.” And in order to properly design a program in any given state, policymakers have to…
Ending Forfeiture In Arizona
Less than one month after IJ teamed up with Terry and Ria Platt, an innocent elderly couple who had their car seized by Arizona law enforcement, we received news that Navajo County prosecutors would return the car. Little do they know that while we are celebrating this victory, it is only the start of our…
IJ Fights for a Family Of Innocent Owners In California
Earlier this year, a California dream quickly became a California nightmare for one San Diego family when the government seized their every penny without warning and without charging anyone with a crime. How is this possible? Through civil forfeiture—one of the greatest threats to property rights in the nation. In January 2016, the Slatic family…
Big Apple, Big Problem
Just days before Christmas in 2013, Sung Cho arrived at his laundromat in Manhattan to find a bright orange eviction notice on the window. The NYPD had targeted Sung for eviction under New York City’s “no-fault” eviction law, which allows police to shutter properties simply because a crime occurred on the premises. In Sung’s case,…
Economic Liberty
In the past few years, Texas has become a beacon of economic liberty. Thanks to our victories for casket sellers, eyebrow threaders and—most recently—craft brewers, the Lone Star State has the highest standard of protection for economic liberty of any state under both the U.S. Constitution and its own state constitution. On October 20, we…
Rooting for Entrepreneurs on the South Side of Chicago
The Curse of the Billy Goat supposedly placed on the Chicago Cubs in 1945 has finally been broken. And while baseball season is over, the IJ Clinic is still excited about a different type of game—the Third Annual South Side Pitch, our Shark Tank-style event that celebrates the vibrancy, innovation and hustle on Chicago’s South…
Making a Spectacle Out of Economic Protectionism
Benjamin Franklin told us that the only things that are certain in life are death and taxes, but that is not quite true. The world offers other certainties: The sun will rise, the sun will set, and innovative new technologies that offer more options for consumers will result in demands by existing businesses that the…
Licensing to Give Tours?
This October, IJ’s strategic research team released an innovative study examining the effects of our 2014 federal court victory that struck down Washington, D.C.’s tour guide license as unconstitutional. In addition to vindicating the First Amendment right of tour guides to speak for a living, the ruling created ideal conditions for a before-and-after study of…
Going to the Head of the Class
Being IJ means always being ready to take up the fight for liberty in a new way. One new approach in our property rights pillar is class action lawsuits. Class action lawsuits might have a reputation for creating windfalls for attorneys while producing trivial results for the plaintiff class members, but, in our hands, the…
