As a researcher at the Institute for Justice, Sanchez conducts research and analysis on issues central to the Institute’s mission and manages the team’s inventory of state and federal forfeiture data.
She studied political science at North Carolina State University, was a 2021 Don Lavoie Fellow at the Mercatus Center and is a Master of Public Policy student at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth.
Before joining IJ, Sanchez was a deputy clerk for the Wake County Clerk of Court in North Carolina and a research intern at the John Locke Foundation.
Kathy's Research & Reports
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Too Many Licenses
In recent decades, states have enacted occupational licensing laws covering a growing number of jobs, and now more American workers than ever must get a license to work. But do we need these new licenses?…
Civil Forfeiture
Policing for Profit
Nationwide, civil forfeiture is a massive threat to property and due process rights. So finds the third edition of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture. The report presents the largest ever collection…
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding
Barriers to Braiding: Illinois Analysis
This report supplements our 2016 study Barriers to Braiding: How Job-Killing Licensing Laws Tangle Natural Hair Care in Needless Red Tape. That study investigated whether (1) braiding licenses keep people out of work…
Economic Liberty | Vending
A Golden Opportunity for the Golden State
California’s sidewalk vendors face a patchwork of arbitrary and anticompetitive rules that make it difficult—or even impossible—to ply their chosen trade and share in the prosperity of the United States’ largest economy. Now the California…