Richmond, Va.—The U.S. Copyright Office is demanding copies of hundreds of books published by a small Richmond publisher, Valancourt Books. If Valancourt doesn’t send the books, they could be subject to six figures in fines. But there’s a problem: Valancourt doesn’t have the books. They are a print-on-demand publisher, and giving the federal government free…

Like other schools in Washington state, Summit Christian Academy, a K-12 private school in Spokane, would like to hire college students as tutors under the state’s Work-Study Program. But because Summit is a religious school, it is barred by the government from doing so, even if those students would be tutoring in subjects such as…

San Juan, Puerto Rico—Today, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court rejected a teachers’ union’s challenge to the Free School Selection Program, and declared the program constitutional. As a result, up to 10,000 Puerto Rican families will be able to apply for government scholarships to send their children to the private or public schools of their choice.…

San Juan, Puerto Rico—Hoy el Tribunal Supremo rechazó el desafió de un sindicato de maestros contra el Programa de Libre Selección de Escuelas y declaró que el programa es constitucional. Como resultado de ello, hasta 10.000 familias puertorriqueñas podrán solicitar becas del gobierno para enviar a sus hijos la escuela pública o privada de su…

Arlington, Va.– Las leyes de expropiación forzosa de Puerto Rico recibieron una calificación de F en un reporte publicado hoy por el Institute for Justice, una organización sin fines de lucro y firma legal de libertades civiles dedicada a erradicar la expropiación (o el “dominio eminente” como se conoce en los Estados Unidos) de manera…

Arlington, Va.– Puerto Rico’s eminent domain laws received a grade of “F” in a report released today by the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit, civil liberties law firm dedicated to ending eminent domain abuse: when the government seizes private property not for traditional public uses, but for private development. The report examines Puerto Rico’s…

Charleston, S.C.—In a sweeping victory for free-speech rights, Judge David Norton of the U.S. District Court for the District of South Carolina today issued an opinion holding that the City of Charleston’s licensing requirement for tour guides violates the First Amendment. The licensing law was challenged by three would-be tour guides—Kimberly Billups, Michael Warfield and…

CHICAGO—Creative entrepreneurs on Chicago’s South Side are busy preparing to demonstrate that they have the most promising idea in order to win the fifth annual South Side Pitch business competition. Since its inception, the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship-hosted competition has been a powerful demonstration that the South Side is home to innovative individuals…

Imagine living in a neighborhood dominated by expensive restaurants with poor service and lackluster food. You see an opportunity and decide to open your own restaurant, but when you apply for your basic business license, a regulator says “there are already enough restaurants in your neighborhood and your competition might put them out of business,”…

In a ruling likely to have national implications, today a federal judge in Albuquerque has found that the city’s civil forfeiture program is unconstitutional. The ruling sets a precedent that calls into question countless other civil forfeiture programs across the country. “Today’s ruling is a total victory for fairness, due process and property owners everywhere,”…

Richmond, Va.—In Virginia, you can teach anyone anything—except how to earn an honest living. That’s the lesson Jon and Tracy McGlothian learned when they tried to open a school to teach job skills to adults in their Virginia Beach community. Yet the State Council of Higher Education for Virginia (SCHEV) has made it virtually impossible…

Baton Rouge, LA—Today, after waging a two-year legal battle with the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology, a group of eyebrow threaders who challenged the state licensing requirement have received some of the first permits to thread eyebrows. Today also marks a moment when eyebrow threaders across the state are finally going back to work. That’s…

San Juan, Puerto Rico—On Friday, the Puerto Rico Supreme Court agreed to immediately hear a case concerning the constitutionality of Puerto Rico’s new Free School Selection Program. The Program, passed into law in March, grants eligible families scholarships to send their child to the private or public school of their choice. The Court of the…

San Juan, Puerto Rico—El viernes pasado, el Tribunal Supremo de Puerto Rico expidió un auto urgente y anunció que el Tribunal determinará la constitucionalidad del Programa de Libre Selección de Escuelas en Puerto Rico. El programa, aprobado en marzo, otorga becas a familias necesitadas para enviar a sus hijos a la escuela privada o pública…

Arlington, Va. — Should you need a license to use public information to draw lines on satellite photos? That is what the Mississippi Board of Licensure for Professional Engineers and Surveyors argued when they sued Vizaline, LLC, and co-founder Brent Melton for “unlicensed surveying” and sought to stop the company from operating and to have…

Several braiders in the Garden State have been fined and even arrested just for practicing their craft without a license.

Today, after a group of lactation counselors filed a lawsuit on Monday, Georgia has agreed to halt enforcement of the state’s lactation consultant licensing law, pending the outcome of the suit. The law, which was set to go into effect on Sunday, July 1, threatened fines of upwards of $500 per day for practicing lactation…

For nearly three decades, Mary Jackson has provided hands-on advice to help new mothers learn how to breastfeed. Despite her years of training and experience, on July 1st, she will be out of a job—but not because she has done anything wrong. Rather, on July 1st, a new Georgia law goes into effect requiring that…

Dallas—Today, Hinga Mbogo and the Institute for Justice announced that they will seek review from the Texas Supreme Court of the Texas Court of Appeals’ decision that dismissed Hinga’s property rights lawsuit against the city of Dallas. The case, which has played out for the last two years, challenges Dallas’ illegal attempt to shutdown a…

Louisville, Ky.—Today, Judge David J. Hale of the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Kentucky entered a consent decree that ends a months-long legal battle between Louisville’s innovative food truck businesses and Louisville Metro. The consent decree is enforceable through the federal court’s contempt powers and will ensure that Louisville’s food trucks are…