Past IJ Arguments of Note
IJ has participated in dozens of arguments over the years. Below is a selection of some of the most noteworthy.
U.S. Supreme Court
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
DeVillier v. Texas Supreme Court Hearing
Richie DeVillier’s family has lived on their cattle ranch outside Winnie, Texas since the 1920s. Historically, rainwater on their land flowed naturally to the Gulf of Mexico. However, after the Texas Department of Transportation renovated a highway bordering their land, installing a three-foot-high concrete barrier along the highway, the dynamics changed. Read More
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Gonzalez v. Trevino Supreme Court Hearing
In Gonzalez v. Trevino, Petitioner Sylvia Gonzalez is a 72 year-old city councilwoman from Castle Hills, Texas. Ms. Gonzalez believed that the city’s mayor and city manager were ignoring her constituents and her own frustrations with the city. The mayor and other allies of the city manager in turn planned to… Read More
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Maine School Choice Oral Argument
On behalf of three Maine families, IJ and the First Liberty Institute filed a challenge to Maine’s exclusion of religious options from the state’s school choice program. Our clients all lived in “tuitioning towns,” which offer tuition payments for students to attend the public or private high schools of their choice instead of maintaining public high schools of their own. Our clients wanted to send their children to otherwise qualified religious schools, but a state law prohibited towns from paying tuition to those schools. Read More
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Timbs v. Indiana Oral Argument
After Tyson Timbs got caught selling four grams of heroin to undercover officers, he pleaded guilty to drug dealing. He served one year on house arrest, paid $1,200 in court fees, and, most importantly, got clean. But the state of Indiana cared a lot more about his car—an expensive (and legally purchased) Land Rover, which he was driving the day of his arrest. The state filed a lawsuit to civilly forfeit the vehicle, arguing that it had been used to convey Tyson a few blocks to one of his meetings with the undercover officers. Read More
First Amendment | Political Speech
Arizona Campaign Finance Oral Argument
IJ challenged Arizona’s punitive system of funding political campaigns with taxpayer funds. Under Arizona’s “Clean Elections” Act, if a privately financed candidate or an independent political group supporting that candidate spent more than the government wished, the state would provide “matching funds” to the publicly funded candidate—on top of that candidate’s initial government subsidy. Read More
State Supreme Courts
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Indiana Jury Trials Oral Argument
The right to a jury trial is fundamental to our justice system. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases in federal court. Likewise, most state constitutions protect the right to a jury trial in civil cases in state court. The Indiana Constitution is no exception. Read More
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
Arizona Engineering Licensing Oral Argument
Greg Mills is an engineer with decades of experience designing, building, and testing electrical circuits for major manufacturers in Arizona. After years of working for others, he started his own engineering consulting company to serve startups and small businesses. Greg is doing the same exact type of work he did as an employee of a big company. But because he now works for himself, the Arizona engineering board says he needs an engineering license and is threatening to shut him down. Read More
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Texas Eyebrow Threading Oral Argument
IJ joined with eyebrow threading salon owner Ash Patel, along with several other threading salon owners and individual threaders, to challenge the Texas Department of Licensing & Regulation’s requirement that threaders become fully licensed cosmetologists to practice their trade, which involves using a single strand of cotton thread to remove unwanted hair. Read More
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Norwood, Ohio, Eminent Domain Oral Argument
When a developer and the city of Norwood, Ohio, teamed up to bulldoze homes and small businesses for the developer’s private gain, IJ teamed up with the owners to fight back. Read More
Federal Appellate Courts
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
New York Forfeiture Appeal Oral Argument
Rochester, New York, police seized more than $8,000 from Cristal Starling on the theory that her then-boyfriend was a drug dealer and the money was drug proceeds. In reality, it was legitimate cash that Cristal was saving to expand her food cart into a food truck. Nevertheless, and although Cristal’s now-ex-boyfriend was acquitted on drug charges, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration moved to keep Cristal’s money forever using civil forfeiture. Read More
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Health | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Texas Veterinary Speech Oral Argument
For 10 years, Dr. Ron Hines, a retired and physically disabled Texas-licensed veterinarian, used the internet to give advice to pet owners across the country and around the globe, often for free. He didn’t realize that it is illegal in Texas to give veterinary advice about an animal without first physically examining the animal. When the state veterinary board found out what Ron was doing, it shut him down, suspended his license, and fined him—even though no one ever complained about Ron’s advice. Read More
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Speech
California Trade Schools Oral Argument
IJ joined with Bob Smith, owner of the Pacific Coast Horseshoeing School, to challenge a California law that made it illegal for trade schools like Bob’s to admit students who hadn’t first graduated from high school or passed a government-approved equivalency exam. Read More
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
D.C. Tour Guides Oral Argument
IJ joined with Tonia Edwards and Bill Main, the owners and operators of a Segway tour company, to challenge a District of Columbia law that made it illegal for anyone to give a tour of the city for compensation without first passing a test and obtaining a special license—quite literally, a license to describe. Read More
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Free Speech Oral Argument
After the North Carolina Board of Dietetics/Nutrition told diabetic blogger Steve Cooksey he couldn’t give diet advice—whether paid or unpaid and whether on his blog or in private emails and calls—without a government-issued license, IJ stepped in to vindicate Steve’s rights. Read More
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Louisiana Caskets Oral Argument
When the Louisiana funeral board went after the monks of Saint Joseph Abbey for the “crime” of selling handmade wooden caskets without a funeral director license, IJ stepped in to champion the monks and their humble enterprise. Read More