Washington, D.C.-New Jersey’s civil forfeiture law dangerously transforms law enforcement priorities from fair and impartial administration of justice and instead into the pursuit of property and profit. How? New Jersey prosecutors and police are entitled to keep the money and property confiscated from individuals through the state’s civil forfeiture law, thus giving them a direct…

Washington, D.C. – A federal judge today ruled that casket retailers in Tennessee may continue operating their businesses pending the State’s appeal of a recent trial court order declaring Tennessee’s state-created casket monopoly unconstitutional. On August 21, Judge R. Allen Edgar of the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Tennessee held that requiring…

WEB RELEASE: October 4, 2000 CONTACT: (703) 682-9320 John Kramer [First Amendment] Washington, D.C.—In the first case of its kind to reach the U.S. Supreme Court, the Institute for Justice and micro-broadcaster Alan Fried filed a petition for certiorari today with the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the Court to help vindicate Fried’s free speech rights…

Washington, D.C.-Based on the Institute for Justice’s filings in federal court today on behalf of property owners from across the New York metropolitan area whose properties are being threatened by eminent domain, Federal District Court Judge Harold Baer issued a temporary restraining order. The order protects the plaintiffs’ small businesses and church from being condemned…

Washington, D.C.-Based on the Institute for Justice’s filings in federal court today on behalf of property owners from across the New York metropolitan area whose properties are being threatened by eminent domain, Federal District Court Judge Harold Baer issued a temporary restraining order. The order protects the plaintiffs’ small businesses and church from being condemned…

Washington, D.C. – The Institute for Justice applauded today’s ruling by the First District Court of Appeals for the State of Florida, upholding the constitutionality of the state’s groundbreaking opportunity scholarship program. The unanimous opinion issued by a three-judge panel reversed the trial court’s March decision that the program violated Article IX, Section 1 of…

Washington, D.C.-In a case with national ramifications for Internet commerce, a federal court today delivered an opening-round victory to consumers and small wineries challenging New York’s ban on the direct shipment of out-of-state wines to consumers. The lawsuit, Swedenburg v. Kelly, pits two small wineries in Virginia and California and three wine-loving New York consumers…

Washington, D.C. – In a resounding victory for economic liberty that will bolster entrepreneurs nationwide, a federal court ruled today that four entrepreneurs may once again sell discounted caskets to Tennessee consumers without having to secure a state-issued funeral director’s license. Such sales were a crime in Tennessee and are still outlawed in at least…

Washington, D.C.-They are big, bold, and can be seen across Pittsburgh. Ten billboard advertisements (each measuring 12 feet high by 25 feet wide) went up today, calling the public’s attention to the City of Pittsburgh’s potential abuse of eminent domain-the power of government to take someone’s private property. To unveil the campaign, Institute for Justice…

Washington, D.C.—Competition from school choice is forcing Florida’s failing public schools to clean up their act. That is the finding of a report released today based on more than 300 documents supplied by the public schools themselves. The report, titled “Competing to Win: How Florida’s A+ Plan Has Triggered Public School Reform,” found widespread efforts…

Washington, D.C.- In a significant victory for school choice supporters, Judge Thomas Appleton of the Sangamon County Circuit Court today dismissed the lawsuit filed by the Illinois Education Association and various other organizations challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois educational expenses tax credit law. The teachers’ union and its allies had argued that the law,…

Washington, D.C.-Attempting to transform a federal lawsuit into a circus, seven new parties have sought to intervene to defend the wholesalers monopoly against efforts to permit direct interstate wine shipments to New York consumers. The lawsuit was brought by the Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice on behalf of two small Virginia and California wineries and…

Washington, D.C.– After a nearly three-year court battle, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) capitulated on March 3, 2000, by publishing a rule exempting newsletter publishers, software developers and Internet website operators from the agency’s licensing requirements. “We’re glad the CFTC has caved,” said Scott Bullock, senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, a Washington,…

Washington, D.C. – Parents of children enrolled in private schools under Florida’s A+ education reform program and their lawyers are gearing up for a crucial first-round argument before Judge L. Ralph Smith in Tallahassee this Thursday. At issue is whether the Florida Constitution permits the use of any public funds to provide public education in…

Washington, D.C.-In a national test case that will impact consumers’ ability to purchase wines across state lines and over the Internet, a federal lawsuit filed today seeks to repeal New York state laws prohibiting the direct shipment of wine to consumers from out-of-state wineries. The suit also seeks to take off the books state laws…

Washington, D.C.-Attorneys for families defending the Cleveland scholarship program will file an appeal today in the U.S. Court of Appeals in Cincinnati. “We are confident the program will be upheld on appeal,” declared Clint Bolick, litigation director for the Institute for Justice, the Washington, D.C.-based public interest firm that represents the families. “This program fulfills…

Washington, D.C.-Vowing that Judge Solomon Oliver’s ruling today striking down Cleveland’s scholarship program “will be as short-lived as the injunction” issued on the eve of the school year, Institute for Justice Litigation Director Clint Bolick vowed a prompt appeal to the Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals, and if necessary, to the U.S. Supreme Court. “The…

Washington, D.C.-In a significant victory for school choice supporters, Judge Loren P. Lewis of the Franklin County Circuit Court today dismissed the Illinois Federation of Teachers’ lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the Illinois educational expenses tax credit law. The teachers’ union had argued that the law, which provides a credit against state income taxes for…

Washington, D.C.-Following a massive public outcry and a rebuke from the U.S. Supreme Court, the plaintiffs in two consolidated lawsuits challenging the Cleveland school choice program stated yesterday they would agree to stay an injunction if they prevail in the lawsuit currently pending before U.S. District Court Judge Solomon Oliver, Jr. “The wolf waiting outside…

Washington, D.C.-In an order received today by the parties, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit left intact a U.S. Supreme Court order staying an injunction against the Cleveland Scholarship Program issued in August by federal district Judge Solomon Oliver. The effect is to allow the program to continue while the case is…