Betsy Sanz is an attorney at the Institute for Justice. She returns after having clerked for IJ as a Dave Kennedy Fellow in 2020.
Born and raised in Southern California, Betsy earned her bachelor’s degree in English from the University of California at Irvine. She had a career in communications and raised a family, then returned to school to study the law, graduating cum laude from Chapman University Dale E. Fowler School of Law in Orange, California. While at Chapman, Betsy founded the Benevolent Butcher Law & Economics Society and earned several academic and extracurricular honors.
Betsy's Cases
Commercial Speech | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
Oklahoma Caskets II
Small business challenges Oklahoma's unconstitutional restrictions on casket sales…
4th Amendment Project | Economic Liberty | Private Property
FinCEN Border Cash Surveillance
Esperanza Gomez and Arnoldo Gonzalez, Jr. run small businesses near the U.S.-Mexico border that provide everyday, small-dollar financial services—often for customers without bank accounts. In San Diego, Esperanza helps customers cash checks (often to buy…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Sparta, GA Eminent Domain
A group of property owners in Sparta, Georgia has teamed up to fight back against a private railroad's attempt to take their land.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Food Freedom
Federal Labeling Censorship
The First Amendment does not allow the government to decide which facts consumers are allowed to know. Yet the federal government is preventing tens of millions of Americans with sensitive stomachs from receiving the information…
First Amendment | Sign Codes | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
New Hampshire Donut Mural
Leavitt's Country Bakery Owner Sean Young filed a federal lawsuit against the town of Conway, after town officials demanded he paint over a mural that was created by local high school students last summer.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
J.T.H. v. Spring Cook
Investigations can be an effective tool for intimidation. Government officials across the ideological spectrum weaponize this power to punish those who speak out against them. The stories of junk investigations are legion. Los Angeles just…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
Arizona Engineering Licensing
Greg Mills has been an engineer for more than 30 years, but now a group of industry insiders on a government board are saying he needs a license he does not actually need. IJ and…
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Louisiana Hair Braiding
Hair-braiders in Louisiana are required to complete 500 hours of unnecessary and irrelevant training, pass an exam and pay annual licensing fees just to do their job. Many hair braiders have moved to neighboring states,…
Betsy's Amicus Briefs
Marfil v. City of New Braunfels, Texas
Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals
Betsy's News, Articles & Publications
Betsy's Podcasts
April 03, 2026
Short Circuit 422 | My Name is Pastor Jennings
When the police ask you for an I.D., when do you have to hand it over? That depends on a lot of facts and a […]
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