PHILADELPHIA—The federal government and most states use civil forfeiture to take cash, cars and more without charging owners with a crime. The proceeds often flow into accounts controlled by law enforcement, sometimes including the same police and prosecutors who seized and forfeited the property. Yet few Americans realize this legal process exists until they find…

ORANGE CITY, Iowa—Yesterday afternoon, the Iowa District Court for Sioux County issued an opinion denying an attempt by Orange City, Iowa, to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its rental inspection ordinance. This ordinance allows the government to enter the most intimate confines of tenants’ homes—including bedrooms, bathrooms, kitchens and closets—in search of housing code violations, even…

Frankfort, Ky.—Today, the Franklin County Circuit Court ruled that Kentucky’s bold Education Opportunity Account Program, enacted in 2021 to give thousands of low- and middle-income families in Kentucky greater educational choice, is unconstitutional under Sections 59 and 184 of the Kentucky Constitution. Akia McNeary and Nancy Deaton, two parents who planned to use the program,…

LAS VEGAS—Today, the Nevada Supreme Court ruled against families in their constitutional challenge to a law that reduced the amount of tax credits available for donors to the Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program. Three mothers of scholarship students, a scholarship granting foundation and two donors to scholarship programs were represented by the Institute for Justice…

Yesterday, the Institute for Justice (IJ) took home the “Best in Show” award in the Non-Profit category at the w3 Awards, one of the premier honors for “digital excellence.” IJ’s award-winning video, titled “IJ Helps Ordinary People Fight Back,” was one of more than 1,000 entries, and was one of only 34 to receive best…

PHOENIX–Yesterday, the Ninth Circuit ruled that Terry and Ria Platt can continue to litigate the unconstitutional forfeiture of their car. The federal appellate court ruling reinstates the Platts’ long-running constitutional challenge against forfeiture abuse in Arizona, in which they are represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ). The Platts, an elderly couple from eastern Washington,…

Trenton, N.J.—Today, New Jersey legalized the sale of home-baked goods like cookies, cakes and muffins with new rules published by the Office of Administrative Law. This move by New Jersey’s Department of Health means that home bakers in every state and D.C. can now sell homemade foods to their neighbors. The victory for New Jersey…

By all accounts, Rudy Carey had a hard childhood. When he was 18, his father—who raised him alone—was in a car accident. Rudy was forced to make the gut-wrenching decision to take him off life support. Like so many others faced with trauma, Carey turned to drugs and alcohol, which, in turn, led to a…

Zion, Ill.—Yesterday evening, the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois issued an opinion denying a motion from Zion, Illinois, to dismiss a lawsuit challenging its rental inspection ordinance. The inspection program allows the city to enter residents’ homes without cause or their consent—subjecting landlords to $750 daily fines for every day…

Six South Side businesses will compete October 21 in the finals of the eighth annual South Side Pitch. As it did last year, the competition is highlighting existing businesses that are taking on the challenges of 2021 in new and unique ways. This year contestants will give their pitches to the judges at the University…

Wilmington, Del.—Wilmington contracts out its municipal impound system to private towing companies and funds the whole system by letting these companies wrongfully take and keep people’s cars. The city pays these companies nothing for their services, but there’s no such thing as a free lunch. The price of Wilmington’s “cost-free” impound services falls squarely on…

ARLINGTON, Va.—What does it take to hold federal police accountable for using excessive force? That question is once again being raised with cases being appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court. And it’s coming to the Justices in the form of a petition from Kevin Byrd, a Texas mechanic who was almost shot to death by…

ARLINGTON, Va.—More than 30 amicus (or “friend-of-the-court”) briefs have been filed in Carson v. Makin, calling for greater educational choice for parents and their children. Carson, which is being litigated by the Institute for Justice (IJ), is expected to set a landmark precedent when it comes to education reform. In the case, the U.S. Supreme Court will…

Arlington, Va.—Earlier this month, Joshua Gray, a private investigator from Massachusetts, filed a petition for certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court asking the Court to reverse a decision by the Maine Department of Public Safety denying him a license as a professional investigator in Maine. The Department based its denial on the fact that it…

NEW ORLEANS—Today, a federal district court granted an ankle monitoring company’s motion to dismiss a class action lawsuit challenging the company’s violation of New Orleans criminal defendants’ right to neutral adjudication in conjunction with former Judge Paul A. Bonin. The plaintiffs, Marshall Sookram and Hakeem Meade, will appeal the decision. Represented by the Institute for…

CAMDEN, N.J.—A new lawsuit launched by a fourth-generation family farm asks whether a single government agency can act as prosecutor, judge and jury when handing out potentially ruinous fines. Sun Valley Orchards, a produce farm in Swedesboro, N.J., is facing hundreds of thousands of dollars in penalties from the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL), mostly…

CLEARWATER, Fla.—Today, the owners of a Florida food truck vowed to continue their legal battle against Tarpon Springs after a Florida court decided that they could not sue the city over an ordinance that requires independently operated food trucks to use someone else’s name in order to operate downtown. Elijah and Ashley Durham opened SOL…

Last February, while driving down a Nevada highway on the way to visit his daughters, Stephen Lara was robbed in plain sight. But his assailants were not ordinary criminals—they were police officers from Nevada Highway Patrol. Using a controversial legal tactic called civil forfeiture, the officers fabricated a reason to stop Lara, detained him for…

HOUSTON—Harris County police and prosecutors systematically abuse the constitutional rights of drivers, seizing cash and other property without probable cause, and quickly filing lawsuits to keep the seized cash in their own budgets using civil forfeiture. Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ)—a national nonprofit law firm—is fighting back with a class-action lawsuit challenging Harris County’s…

CHICAGO—Late Friday, Gov. J.B. Pritzker signed SB 2007, the Home-to-Market Act, legislation which will allow home bakers and farmers in Illinois to sell their foods more easily. The bill sweeps away a patchwork of regulations that made it difficult for food entrepreneurs to sell directly to their customers and that severely limited how much they…