Austin, Texas—In virtually every state, when you get sick and visit your doctor, you can obtain prescribed medication right there in the doctor’s office—a practice known as “doctor dispensing.” Not in Texas. The Lone Star State bans most doctors from dispensing medication. Dr. Michael Garrett and Dr. Kristin Held want to use doctor dispensing to…

Portland, Maine—United States District Court Judge D. Brock Hornby today issued a ruling upholding a Maine law that excludes religious schools as an option for parents and students from the state’s high school tuitioning program. In his written ruling, Judge Hornby cited a prior appellate court decision upholding the exclusion of religious options as binding…

Arlington, Va.—By a 7-2 margin, the U.S. Supreme Court today issued a broadside against state-based economic protectionism as it struck down a Tennessee law that had required anyone seeking a retail liquor license to first reside in the state for two years—and 10 years before they could renew it. “To put it mildly, today’s opinion…

Today, the U.S. House of Representatives voted to defund a notorious federal forfeiture program when it passed a “minibus” appropriations bill (H.R. 3055) to finance the Justice Department and other federal agencies. Organized by the Institute for Justice, a bipartisan coalition of two dozen organizations, including the American Conservative Union, the ACLU, Heritage Action for…

Hawaii Gov. David Ige announced on Monday that he intends to veto HB 748, a bill that would substantially reform the state’s civil forfeiture laws and end law enforcement’s perverse incentive to police for profit. Under current law, agencies can confiscate valuable property without ever filing criminal charges. Once property has been forfeited and auctioned…

Tallahassee, Fla.—Yesterday, Gov. Ron DeSantis signed SB 82, legislation protecting the right of all Floridians to grow vegetables and fruit on their own property. For one Miami-area couple, this represents the end of a years-long struggle that started when their town ordered them to dig up the garden they had been growing for 17 years.…

Tallahassee, Fla.—The hours of training necessary to earn a living as a barber would be decreased under a proposed regulation issued today by the Florida Department of Business and Professional Regulation. The proposal eliminates 700 hours of unnecessary training to obtain a restricted barber license (the license used by many barbers) by reducing the pre-test…

New Orleans, La.—Why does the Louisiana State Board of Cosmetology require 500 hours of training to do something as safe as hair braiding? That is the question three Louisiana hair braiders raised in a new lawsuit Thursday with the Institute for Justice (IJ), a national public interest law firm that fights for economic liberty. Lynn…

Yesterday, the U.S. Senate unanimously approved legislation that stops the Internal Revenue Service from raiding the bank accounts of small-business owners. The Clyde-Hirsch-Sowers RESPECT Act, passed as part of the Taxpayer First Act (H.R. 3151), is named after Institute for Justice clients Jeff Hirsch and Randy Sowers, two victims of the IRS’s aggressive seizures for so-called “structuring.” Through structuring…

Gov. Kay Ivey signed the Alabama Forfeiture Information Reporting Act (SB 191) late Monday, which will shine a light on law enforcement’s often secretive use of civil forfeiture. Without ever charging the owner with a crime, police and prosecutors can seize cash, cars, and other valuables, and if the property is forfeited, keep up to…

AUSTIN, Texas—Today, Texas veterinarian Dr. Ron Hines announced that he will ask the 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals to recognize that a landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision last summer, NIFLA v. Becerra, established that the First Amendment protects the right of licensed professionals to give advice over the internet. Ron joined forces with the…

Arlington, Va.—A new Institute for Justice study (PDF) finds the nation’s largest forfeiture program does not help police fight crime. Instead, the study indicates police use forfeiture to boost revenue—in other words, to police for profit. The IJ study, “Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue? Testing Opposing Views of Forfeiture,” combines local crime, drug use and economic…

Minnesota will no longer license natural hair braiders thanks to an omnibus budget bill Gov. Tim Walz signed on Thursday. Previously, Minnesota required braiders to complete a 30-hour course and pay a $20 fee before they could practice their craft. But under SF 10, braiders are now completely exempt from all occupational and facility licensing…

Today, in a blow to the economic liberty of all Texans, the Texas Supreme Court refused to grant review in a constitutional challenge that asked whether the government can use its power to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. The legal challenge concerned a law passed in 2013 at the behest of beer distributors…

Arlington, Va.—The Maryland Court of Special Appeals yesterday reinstated Baltimore’s ban on mobile vendors operating within 300 feet of any brick and mortar establishment selling similar food. This overturns a 2017 Baltimore Circuit Court ruling that declared the city’s 300-foot ban too vague to enforce. The Institute for Justice (IJ) and two food trucks, Pizza…

Arlington, Va.—The U.S. Supreme Court today declined to review a case that documented how pipeline companies flout the law by taking property before compensating property owners. The case arose out of southeast Pennsylvania where Gary and Michelle Erb purchased a 72-acre tract of land in Conestoga, where they built their dream home. Their hope was…

Wednesday afternoon, a federal judge issued a temporary restraining order to protect the mural of a North Dakota saloon, Lonesome Dove, from immediate removal. Lonesome Dove filed a lawsuit against the city on Monday after the city ordered the bar to either remove the mural by May 23 or suffer thousands in fines. In issuing…

Arlington, Va.—Today, the Illinois Supreme Court upheld two provisions of Chicago’s law that block food trucks from parking within 200 feet of restaurants and require they install GPS devices so city officials may track their every move. The Institute for Justice challenged these two provisions in 2012 on behalf of Laura Pekarik, owner of the…

Savannah, Ga.—Does the First Amendment allow cities to make it illegal to give tours to paying groups without first passing a special test and obtaining a license from the city? A federal court in Savannah today joined other federal judges in holding that it does not. Today’s ruling comes in Freenor v. Mayor and Aldermen…

Last fall, August “Augie” Kersten, co-owner of the Lonesome Dove saloon in Mandan, North Dakota, decided to brighten up his building with a mural. Other businesses in town have murals, and Augie thought it would be just the thing to bring color and character to the otherwise drab and industrial area where his business faced…