MIAMI—El 11 de mayo de 2015, Miladis Salgado regresó a su casa y descubrió que su vida tuvo un giro inesperado. Mientras ella estaba trabajando, la policía ingresó a su casa y confiscó sus ahorros de toda la vida—$15.000 en efectivo que ella estaba ahorrando para la quinceañera de su hija—a partir de información de…

Late yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill (A4970) that will require a criminal conviction before civil forfeiture. Unlike criminal forfeiture, civil forfeiture typically allows the government to take and keep property without charging anyone with a crime. Thanks to the governor’s signature, New Jersey is now the 16th state with a conviction prerequisite to…

If you tell police they can go into your home, does that mean they can also legally stand outside and pepper it with shotgun-fired tear gas grenades—destroying everything inside? That is the question asked by a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States filed today by the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf…

PITTSBURGH—Terry Rolin’s life savings of $82,373 were seized by the federal government even though he has not been charged with any crime. In fact, his daughter was doing something completely legal—flying domestically with cash—when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized the money in August 2019 at the Pittsburgh International Airport. Today, Terry and his daughter…

Pottstown, Penn.—This morning, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion vacating and remanding a lower court’s ruling in favor of Pottstown in a lawsuit challenging the borough’s rental inspection ordinance. This law allows the borough to enter residents’ homes without cause and without the residents’ consent. The Court also reversed the trial court’s orders…

The New Jersey Assembly unanimously passed a bill late Monday that would shine a light on “civil forfeiture,” which lets law enforcement seize property without ever charging the owner with a crime. In New Jersey, once property is forfeited, the government can then keep up to 100% of the proceeds, creating a perverse incentive to…

PHILADELPHIA—Today, a three-judge panel of the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania denied the Cosmetology Board’s motion to dismiss a lawsuit filed by two Philadelphia-area women who want to end an unconstitutional requirement that stands in the way of their careers. The Board used Courtney Haveman’s and Amanda Spillane’s past legal problems to deny them the right…

Las Vegas, Nev.—Today, Clark County District Court Judge Rob Bare handed Nevada families a first-round win in their constitutional challenge to a 2019 law that eliminated the automatic annual increase in the amount of tax credits available for donors to the Nevada Educational Choice Scholarship Program. Attorneys for the state were seeking to dismiss the…

From satellites in space to circuits for flashlights, Greg Mills has spent his entire career working as an engineer designing and building electronics. But earlier this year, a group of industry insiders sitting on a government board abruptly put Greg’s career on ice. Now he’s fighting back. Greg’s resume reads like a veritable who’s-who of…

Louisville, Ky.—Dipendra Tiwari saw an urgent need for Nepali speakers to receive home health care from workers who understood their language and culture. With thousands of Nepali immigrants living in the Louisville area, he hoped to open a modest business that would employ nurses and health aides qualified to offer services to both the Nepali…

Bismarck, N.D.—Today, the North Dakota Legislative Assembly’s Administrative Rules Committee approved rules to significantly weaken the state’s food freedom law. The Institute for Justice (IJ) has repeatedly urged the Legislature and the state Department of Health not to adopt rules that will significantly impair people’s ability to run their homemade food businesses.  The law, which…

Arlington, Va.—On Friday, the Institute for Justice (IJ) submitted comments to the Texas Department of Public Safety supporting rules proposed on October 25, 2019. The rules ease licensing burdens on people with unrelated criminal records who now want to work in the private security industry. Enforcing a new Texas law and directive by Governor Greg Abbott,…

Arlington, Va.—If the government needs to destroy your home to build a freeway or a school, the Constitution entitles you to just compensation. But what if the government needs to destroy your home for some other reason—say, to capture a fugitive who has randomly taken refuge in your house while fleeing the police? Does the…

Raleigh, N.C.—Today, a state superior court judge denied the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ motion to dismiss a constitutional challenge to a law that bans medical providers from purchasing an MRI scanner without first obtaining special permission—called a “certificate of need,” or CON—from the government. The court cleared the way for the…

PHILADELPHIA—Philadelphians who lost their property to the city’s abusive civil forfeiture machine must apply by December 6, 2019 to receive a cash settlement. Last fall, the Institute for Justice (IJ) announced an agreement with the city to end a class action lawsuit on behalf of people who had homes, cash and cars wrongfully seized. After…

Arlington, Va.—On May 11, 2015, Miladis Salgado returned home to find her life turned upside down. While she was at work, police had raided her home and seized her entire life savings—$15,000 in cash she was saving for her daughter—based on a tip that her estranged husband was dealing drugs. He wasn’t, but that didn’t stop the…

“Charities should not have to show that their donors have been subject to the terroristic threats the NAACP suffered in the 1950s before they will be allowed to keep their donor lists private. By that time, the harm to private speech and association has already been done.” Arlington, Virginia—Would you want the government to know…

Arlington, Va.—An Iowa woman is trapped in a Catch-22. Years ago, she was arrested but then never convicted of a crime. The arrest is a public record, standing as a barrier to her getting a good job. By paying her debt to the court system, she could wipe her record clean, a process known as…

In a unanimous opinion issued today in the case of Yim v. City of Seattle, No. 95813-1, the Supreme Court of Washington upheld the city of Seattle’s “First In Time” (FIT) law from a constitutional challenge brought by Seattle landlords. The FIT ordinance required Seattle landlords to offer vacant units to the first qualified applicant.…

In a move to end discrimination and provide expanded employment and educational opportunities to Washington’s higher-ed students, yesterday the Washington Student Achievement Council adopted new regulations that will allow students in the state’s Work Study Program to take jobs with religiously affiliated employers. The new regulations were adopted in response to a 2018 lawsuit challenging…