Research Reports
Enforcing the Constitution
The Constitution was written to limit government power, but those limits are meaningless unless judges restrain public officials when they overstep their bounds. Judicial engagement is a cutting-edge approach to judicial review that…
First Amendment | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Occupational Speech and the First Amendment
In May 2013, newspaper columnist John Rosemond received a cease-and-desist letter from the Kentucky Board of Examiners of Psychology informing him that his syndicated column — in which he answers readers’ questions about parenting —…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Boards Behaving Badly
In a nutshell, states should: Charge an independent “licensing ombudsman” with reviewing the actions of state licensing boards; Charge the licensing ombudsman with a mandate to promote economic competition; Make the ombudsman responsible for conducting…
Regulating work
This study examines the scope and burden of occupational licensing laws in the United States for 102 low- and moderate-income occupations. Findings indicate that the licences studied require of aspiring workers, on average, $US209 in…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Seize First, Question Later
Thanks to federal civil forfeiture laws, the Internal Revenue Service has seized millions of dollars from thousands of Americans’ bank accounts without proof of criminal wrongdoing.
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…
Against Arbitrary Government And The Amoral Constitution
The most important debate in constitutional law today is within the conservative-libertarian movement over the proper role of courts in mediating personal freedom and government power. At one end of the spectrum are those who…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Bad Apples or Bad Laws?
An original experiment finds that civil forfeiture laws create a strong temptation for law enforcement to seize property to pad their own budgets.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing | Transportation | Vending
Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide
You have the right to earn an honest living. This is called “economic liberty” and it is protected by the U.S. Constitution. But often, entrepreneurs face burdensome, arbitrary and anti-competitive laws that make it difficult,…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Untangling Regulations
Natural hair braiding is a beauty practice popular among many African, African-American and immigrant communities in the United States. But braiders in many states have to endure hundreds of hours of unnecessary coursework and pay…
Economic Liberty | Vending
The Attack on Food Freedom
Today’s bans and strict regulations ultimately limit the choices available to eaters—which include quite literally everyone—and, in the process, prevent food entrepreneurs from earning an honest living.
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Vending
Street Eats, Safe Eats
Street food, long a part of American life, has boomed in popularity in recent years. Yet an idea persists that food from trucks and sidewalk carts is unclean and unsafe. Street Eats, Safe Eats tests…
Judicial Engagement Means No More Make-Believe Judging
Every person who goes into court deserves a sincere, impartial judge. A substantial portion of American constitutional doctrine is devoted to ensuring they don’t get one. What civil rights plaintiffs often get instead is a…
Educational Choice
Opening the Schoolhouse Doors
Alabama’s scholarship tax credit programs follow in the footsteps of at least six similar tax credits dating to the 1970s that give students a choice of public, private or religious schools, demonstrating that scholarship tax…
Economic Liberty
Florida’s Dirty Dozen
Florida legislators can make Florida more business friendly by repealing 12 anticompetitive, senseless and arbitrary laws that hold back entrepreneurs.
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…
Other
Terms of Engagement
The Constitution was designed to limit government power and protect individuals from the tyranny of majorities and interest-group politics. But those protections are meaningless without judges who are fully committed to enforcing them, and America’s…
First Amendment | Political Speech
The Public’s Right to Know versus Compelled Speech
In this Article, we question neither the desirability of creating transparency in the ties between candidates and their contributors, nor the efficacy of disclosure regulations in affecting this end. This is despite the fact that…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Teeth Whitening
White Out
As the teeth-whitening industry has exploded in recent years, so too has the push for laws and regulations that enable licensed dentists and hygienists to capture a greater share of that market by banning anyone…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Rotten Reporting in the Peach State
Georgia has some of the worst civil forfeiture laws in the nation, a problem compounded by law enforcement agencies’ routine failure to report forfeiture revenue and expenditures as required by law. But a 2011 Institute…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
A Stacked Deck
State data show that from 2003 to 2010, forfeiture revenue in Minnesota jumped 75 percent, even as crime rates declined, and the average value of forfeited property was only $1,000.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Arizona’s Profit Incentive in Civil Forfeiture
Arizona’s civil forfeiture laws need to be reformed. In the upside-down world of civil forfeiture, police and prosecutors can seize and keep cash and property that was allegedly involved in criminal activity—without ever proving a…
Economic Liberty | Vending
Seven Myths and Realities about Food Trucks
Using facts and real-world examples, IJ shows that there is no basis for the argument that restaurants need government intervention to “protect” them from food trucks.
Economic Liberty | Vending
Food-Truck Freedom
In order to foster the conditions that will let food trucks thrive, this report offers recommendations based on the legislative best practices of Los Angeles and other cities.
Occupational Licensing
License to Work 1
License to Work, 1st Edition Published in 2010, this is an older edition of IJ’s landmark License to Work report. You can download the report here, but please see the 3rd and current edition…
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.
Testing the utility of a licensing policy: Evidence from a field experiment
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.