Wisconsin has now become the 31st state to eliminate licensing for natural hair braiders, thanks to a bill (AB 121) signed Thursday by Gov. Tony Evers. With a rich heritage spanning millennia, natural hair braiding is a beauty practice common in many African American and African immigrant communities. Unlike cosmetologists, braiders do not cut hair or use any harsh chemicals or dyes in their work.  Yet Wisconsin was…

CONCORD, N.H.—In a major win for educational choice, Gov. Chris Sununu yesterday signed a bill expanding the state’s town tuitioning program to include religious private schools. The tuitioning program empowers local school districts that do not operate public schools for certain grade levels to pay tuition for students to attend private schools or other public…

Arlington, Virginia—Today, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear a potentially landmark case challenging a Maine law that bans families from an otherwise generally available student-aid program if they choose to send their children to schools that teach religion. The Institute for Justice (IJ), which represents the parents in Carson v. Makin, will argue the…

Arlington, Virginia—In its final opinion of the 2020-2021 Term, the U.S. Supreme Court today struck down a California requirement that all nonprofits operating in the state turn over a list of their largest contributors to the state’s Attorney General. The Institute for Justice (IJ) filed an amicus brief in the consolidated cases, Americans for Prosperity Foundation…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Gov. Ron DeSantis last night signed a bill into law allowing Sunshine State barbers to cut hair in places other than registered barbershops. House Bill 855 received unanimous support in both the Florida House and Senate. The Institute for Justice (IJ) supported the legislation, which expands on the sweeping licensing reform passed last year.…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Last night, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill into law that will make it easier for many Floridians to work. House Bill 735 bans Florida municipalities and counties from creating additional licensing requirements for a long list of occupations. For instance, under the new law, cities cannot create new local occupational licenses for handyman…

TALLAHASSEE, Fla.—Last night, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a pair of bills that will make it easier for Floridians to earn a living from home. House Bill 663, named the “Home Sweet Home Act,” reforms rules on selling shelf-stable homemade foods, commonly known as cottage foods, and House Bill 403 standardizes rules for operating businesses inside…

ARLINGTON, Va.—Today’s 5-4 U.S. Supreme Court decision in PennEast Pipeline Co., LLC, v. New Jersey is a quiet but vitally important victory for private property owners nationwide. The federal government had urged the Supreme Court to use this case to announce a sweeping rule under which landowners defending against a condemnation for a natural-gas pipeline…

CHICAGO—The Chicago City Council recently voted to strip sign permit reform out of a package of business reforms, disappointing small businesses and advocates calling for a straightforward and fair application process. Chicago, unlike any other major city in the United States, requires the entire City Council to vote on the permit for every sign that…

BISMARCK, N.D.— Cottage food producers across the state can now rest assured that they can sell their homemade foods—like pizzas, mac and cheese, and canned vegetables—exactly as the state Legislature had intended when it passed the Cottage Food Act. Last December, North Dakota Judge Cynthia M. Feland ruled that the North Dakota Department of Health…

CENTRAL ISLIP, N.Y.—The family owners of a chain of Long Island hardware stores are asking a federal judge to immediately halt the town of Southold’s attempt to take their property through eminent domain. On May 4, the Brinkmann family filed a federal lawsuit seeking to protect their right to use the Southold property they own…

ARLINGTON, Va.—The U.S. Supreme Court has unanimously rejected a sweeping rule that would have allowed police to enter people’s homes without a warrant just to pursue suspected misdemeanants. Today’s opinion in Lange v. California echoes points stressed in an amicus brief submitted by the Institute for Justice. The case arose from a minor traffic offense.…

LOS ANGELES—Late Tuesday, U.S. District Judge R. Gary Klausner granted a temporary restraining order that stops the government from using civil forfeiture to take the contents of safe deposit boxes seized in the FBI’s raid on Beverly Hills company U.S. Private Vaults. Jeni Pearsons and her husband Michael Storc, along with Joseph Ruiz and Travis…

ARLINGTON, Va.—In Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi federal police are now entitled to absolute immunity from individual accountability, even when they grossly violate someone’s constitutional rights. That’s because the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently ruled that even if federal police beat you for no reason and almost choke you to death—and even if you…

DARLINGTON, Wis.—Today, Judge Rhonda L. Lanford, presiding over Lafayette County Circuit Court, denied a request from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to dismiss a lawsuit brought by seven Wisconsinites and the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association with the Institute for Justice (IJ) challenging the state’s ban on homemade shelf-stable foods. In…

LOS ANGELES—Using civil forfeiture, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to permanently take the contents of hundreds of safe deposit boxes, including over $85 million in cash and precious metals, jewelry and other valuables worth millions more. But the boxes’ owners have not been accused of any crime and have not been told what…

Arlington, Va.—Indiana man Tyson Timbs’s fight against civil forfeiture made national news in February 2019, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies not just to the federal government, but to the states as well. That decision established a rule of law for Americans nationwide. But it didn’t get…

WASHINGTON—Yesterday, Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced the Business and Entrepreneurship Support to Thrive (BEST) Amendment Act of 2021, to streamline the licensing process for new and existing businesses. Today, a new report by the Institute for Justice (IJ) underscores the vital need to pass this reform—especially as so many recover from the personal and financial burdens of the pandemic.   The report, Blueprint for Business: Cutting Red Tape and Supporting DC…

WILMINGTON, N.C.—Wayne Nutt is an engineer. He graduated with a degree in engineering and worked most of his career in North Carolina without ever needing a license to actually work as an engineer. But now, the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors is telling Wayne that speaking publicly about engineering without a…

FRANKFORT, Ky.—Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ)  moved to intervene on behalf of Florence, Kentucky, parent Akia McNeary and Newport, Kentucky, great-grandparent Nancy Deaton to defend Kentucky’s bold new school choice program, the Education Opportunity Account (EOA) Program, from a lawsuit filed Monday. IJ is the nation’s leading advocate for school choice, having won 24 school choice litigation fights, including three at the…