Scholarly Articles
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
When legal is not ethical
Civil forfeiture laws in the United States facilitate, indeed encourage, unethical behavior on the part of law enforcement officials. Civil forfeiture is a mechanism by which law enforcement agencies can seize property merely with a…
Economic Liberty
The Balance Between Public Protection and the Right to Earn a Living
One of the significant challenges facing licensing professionals is striking the most effective, efficient and just balance between regulation of occupations and preserving occupational practice free from unnecessary government restrictions. As discussed in greater detail…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Information at the Margin: Campaign Finance Disclosure Laws, Ballot Issues, and Voter Knowledge
All 24 states that permit voters to cast ballots directly on policy matters also require that contributions and expenditures on ballot issue campaigns be disclosed publicly. Scholars assert that information about the financial involvement of…
First Amendment | Political Speech
The Public’s Right to Know Versus Compelled Speech: What Does Social Science Research Tell Us About the Benefits and Costs of Campaign Finance Disclosure in Non-Candidate Elections?
The National Conference of State Legislatures has called campaign finance disclosure the most basic form of campaign finance regulation and further notes that “[a]ll states require some level of disclosure from candidates, committees, and political…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Testing the Utility of Licensing: Evidence from a Field Experiment on Occupational Regulation
This study examines hypothesized benefits associated with occupational licensing in one long-regulated industry in Louisiana—floristry—in order to determine to what extent licensing results in theorized benefits that might justify the costs associated with licensure systems.
Educational Choice
Indiana’s History of School Choice: Attempts to Derail New K-12 Scholarship Program Threaten Decades of Choice
Heather Coffy is a hardworking, single mother who wants to ensure her children receive a quality education. Her oldest son, Delano, was struggling in the public school system. After her complaints to public school administrators were ignored,…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Comment on Carpenter and Ross (2009): Eminent Domain and Equity—A Reply
In this report, Director of Strategic Research Dick Carpenter responds to commentary on his article about the effects of eminent domain on poor and minority communities. Suggested citation: Carpenter, D. M.
First Amendment | Political Speech
Publicly Funded Elections Infringe on Candidates’ First Amendment Rights
Suggested citation: Primo, D. M. (2011). Publicly funded elections infringe on candidates’ First Amendment rights. In N. G. Dziedzic (Ed.), Election Spending (Opposing Viewpoints Series, pp. 74–83). Greenhaven Press.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Civil Asset Forfeiture, Equitable Sharing, and Policing for Profit in the United States
Purpose Critics of asset forfeiture claim that forfeiture laws create financial incentives that inappropriately influence police behavior. The present study examines the relationship between measures of the financial incentive and legal burdens for civil asset…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Who’s Misleading Whom? Defining Titles in Occupations ‘On the Make’
Can occupational titles mislead the public? Should the use of titles be regulated to protect against such a possibility? Traditionally, occupational regulation is conceptualized as a restriction on the practice of an occupation through licensure,…
Economic Liberty
The Power of One Entrepreneur: A Case Study of the Effects of Entrepreneurship
This study examines the effects of entrepreneurship through qualitative case study methods. It examines the life and work of a single small-business entrepreneur in Tupelo, MS to discern how she affects her community both economically…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Blooming Nonsense
Leslie Massony and Monique Chauvin are established experts in their field, with awards and happy customers testifying to the quality of their work. Nonetheless, after years in the business, they had to take a state…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Do restrictions on eminent domain harm economic development?
After the U.S. Supreme Court upheld in the Kelo decision the use of eminent domain for private-to-private transfer of property for economic development, public outrage was followed by attempts to restrict such use of eminent domain. Opponents…
Educational Choice
Special Needs Vouchers Aid Children and Promote Excellence
In the previous article, Dr. Corinne Harmon responds to my analysis of the Arizona Supreme Court’s decision in Cain v. Horne (Keller, 2009) that struck down two voucher programs for students with special needs—one for…
Educational Choice
The Florida Supreme Court vs. School Choice
School choice is the civil rights issue of the twenty-first century. In the Information Age, knowledge is not just power—it is destiny. As a result, no issue more fundamentally divides the “haves” and the “have-nots”…
First Amendment
The Regulation of Grassroots Lobbying
President Obama’s domestic policies have generated opposition among many in the general public and mobilized previously uninvolved citizens. This opposition has manifested itself in public rallies, “tea party” protests, and spirited feedback at town hall…
Other
Getting Beyond Guns
The Fourteenth Amendment represents a deliberate decision by the people of this nation to make the U.S. Constitution—not state constitutions and not state officials— the primary guardian of liberty in America. The purpose of the…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Robin Hood in Reverse
In November, New York’s Court of Appeals, the state’s highest court, upheld the use of eminent domain to take homes and small businesses to make way for wealthy developer Bruce Ratner’s so-called “Atlantic Yards” development:…
Other
The Right to Keep and Bear Arms in the States
District of Columbia v. Heller was an easy case to get right. First, there was the text of the Second Amendment, which plainly states that “the right of the people to keep and bear Arms,…
Educational Choice
The National Implications of Cain v. Horne
This commentary addresses the Arizona Supreme Court’s legal reasoning in Cain v. Horne, which struck down two voucher programs for special needs children pursuant to one of Arizona’s Blaine Amendments and explains that the court…
Educational Choice
School Choice and the Law
In 2009, the Journal of School Choice presented a special issue on school choice and the law, guest edited by Institute for Justice Director of Strategic Research Dick Carpenter. In this introduction, Carpenter explains that…
Educational Choice
School Choice and State Constitutions’ Religion Clauses
After the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Zelman v. SimmonsHarris, only state religion clauses represent a potential constitutional bar to the inclusion of religious options in properly designed school choice programs. The two most significant…
First Amendment
Attack Ballot Issue Disclosure Root and Branch
For years, the lower federal and many state courts have given short shrift to the First Amendment rights of those who wish to contribute money to groups that advocate the passage or defeat of ballot…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Politics for Professionals Only: Ballot Measures, Campaign Finance “Reform,” and the First Amendment
When Scott Eckern donated money to an election committee, little did he know that it would cost him his job of 25 years. Eckern had worked successfully as the artistic director of the California Musical…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Testing O’Connor and Thomas: Does eminent domain target poor and minority communities?
In dissenting from the US Supreme Court’s 2005 Kelo decision upholding the use of eminent domain for private-to-private transfers of property, Justices O’Connor and Thomas asserted, based on the history of urban renewal, that eminent domain for…
First Amendment | Political Speech
Mandatory disclosure for ballot initiative campaigns
This research examines some of the assumptions inherent in discussions of campaign-finance disclosure laws as they relate to ballot issues. Specifically, it tests the theory that mandatory disclosure contributes to “better” (that is, more informed)…
First Amendment
Davis v. FEC and the Constitutionality of “Clean Elections” Systems
In a “clean elections” system, taxpayer funded candidates must agree to limit their campaign spending. Imposing limits on campaign spending for candidates who forego taxpayer dollars and instead run traditional campaigns would be unconstitutional. Most…
First Amendment
SpeechNow.org and the Paradox of Buckley v. Valeo
The right to free speech, including the right to speak out about who should be elected to public office, is a fundamental American right, essential to democratic debate. So, too, is the right of individuals…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Regulation through titling laws: A case study of occupational regulation
This case study examines a form of occupational regulation infrequently examined in academic literature – titling laws. These laws regulate who may legally use a phrase, or title, to describe their work to the public.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Interior Design | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Designing Cartels Through Censorship
Business interests sometimes use titling laws – laws establishing who can use professional titles – as a form of occupational regulation to restrict entry. Such laws allow practitioners to provide services without a license, but…