Robert McNamara serves as the Institute for Justice’s Deputy Litigation Director. He helps guide IJ’s overall litigation strategy while also litigating cutting-edge constitutional cases protecting free speech, property rights, economic liberty, and other individual liberties in both federal and state courts.
Robert’s work has resulted in court victories for property owners fighting eminent domain abuse, tour guides fighting unconstitutional restrictions on their speech, taxi drivers seeking the right to own their own business, cancer patients seeking the right to pay bone-marrow donors, and many others. His current cases focus on defending private property rights, innovation in medical care and telemedicine, and the First Amendment right of all Americans to provide their opinions on important topics like engineering or the law without first obtaining a government license.
Robert’s writing has been published by outlets including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Washington Post, and dozens more nationwide. His opinions and views on legal issues have been featured in radio and television programs ranging from National Public Radio’s All Things Considered to CBS Sunday Morning.
Robert is a graduate of Boston University and the New York University School of Law. He currently lives in Virginia with his wife and children.
Robert's Cases
Commercial Speech | Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Sign Codes
Institute for Justice joins lawsuit defending family bar threatened with fines and even jail time for using “barbershop” theme to honor owners’ late father
Institute for Justice joins lawsuit defending family bar threatened with fines and even jail time for using “barber shop” theme to honor owners’ late father When Mike DiGiacomo and his siblings wanted…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Stiffed by a Pipeline Company Wielding Eminent Domain, Plains Ranchers Appeal to U.S. Supreme Court
North Dakota ranchers fought a pipeline company with eminent domain power for the fair value of their land. But an appeals court said the company did not have to pay the ranchers' attorney fees. That…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
New Jersey Properties Blighted Just Because City Wants Them, Not Because Anything is Wrong With Them
Honey Meerzon and Luis Romero came from different backgrounds but have many things in common. Their parents both fled oppressive government regimes in search of a better life for their children. They have both…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
New Petition Asks Supreme Court to Overturn Infamous Kelo Eminent Domain Decision
Can the government take your property just to hand it over to your business competitor? That is the question New York developer Bryan Bowers asked the United States Supreme Court after New York’s…
Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Courts Say City Owes Her Over $200,000; But Now She Has to Sue Again to Get Paid
Courts say Okay, Oklahoma owes Melisa Robinson for damaging her property. But the city won't pay. That violates her Fifth Amendment right to just compensation.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Texas Family Fights to Defend Property in Historically Black Neighborhood from Port's Land Grab
Retired military nurse Pam Tilley grew up in the East End of Freeport, Texas—a historically black neighborhood that was filled with a vibrant community of homes, stores, and churches. First established in the 1920s…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
DeVillier v. Texas
Victory! In April 2024, the Supreme Court vacated the Fifth Circuit decision and ruled the DeVillier family can sue Texas for flooding caused by the state. Richie DeVillier lives on the same patch of…
First Amendment | Occupational Speech
Upsolve v. Letitia James – The Right to Provide Legal Advice
Upsolve wants to train volunteers to help low-income New Yorkers with simple legal matters, but unauthorized practice of law rules prevent them from helping their neighbors.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation
IJ Joins Fight to End Retaliatory Defamation Lawsuit in Wisconsin
National Public Interest Law Firm Joins Fight to End Retaliatory Defamation Lawsuit in Wisconsin. IJ Defends a Community Activist Against a Village Attorney’s Frivolous and Retaliatory Defamation Lawsuit…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Former Texas Prosecutor Worked as a Law Clerk in His Own Cases, Giving the Government an Unfair Advantage Over Those He Prosecuted
Everybody knows your prosecutor can’t also be your judge. Everyone, that is, except for former Midland County, Texas, prosecutor Ralph Petty, his supervisor, and the county’s entire system of justice. Petty spent 20 years moonlighting…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Joshua Gray criticized the police—so they denied him an occupational license
Joshua Gray, a private investigator, wanted to expand his business into his home state of Maine. In violation of his First Amendment rights, the state denied his request for a license, because he has criticized…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Board Tells Retired Engineer He Can’t Talk About Engineering
Wayne Nutt is a retired engineer who still talks about engineering and wanted to testify as an expert witness in a case that involved engineering issues. The state of North Carolina argued Wayne’s testimony was…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | SWAT Destruction
Woman Fights for Compensation After House Destroyed by SWAT Team
Police destroyed Vicki Baker’s home while pursuing a fugitive, costing her tens of thousands of dollars and leaving her daughter’s dog with hearing loss. The city refused to pay for the damage it caused. IJ…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
First Amendment Lawsuit Seeks to Protect the Right to Practice Talk Therapy Across State Lines
Elizabeth Brokamp uses talk therapy to help people improve their lives. She’s licensed in Virginia, where she lives, near the border with D.C. But D.C. will not let her see clients online who she could…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Institute for Justice Asks U.S. Supreme Court to Hold Government Officials Accountable For Destroying Idaho Home with Grenades
If you tell police they can go into your home, does that mean they can also legally stand outside and pepper it with shotgun-fired tear gas grenades—destroying everything inside? That is the question asked by…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Lech v. Greenwood Village
Police destroyed the home of Leo and Alfonsina Lech while pursuing a fugitive and refused to pay for the damage that was caused. While the Supreme Court declined to hear the Lechs’ case, IJ is…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Institute for Justice Asks U.S. Supreme Court to End Colorado Law Permitting Neighbors to Engage in Eminent Domain Abuse
Imagine if two of your neighbors got together, claimed they established a new town, and then “voted” to take your property from you using eminent domain. Crazy, right? Not in Colorado, where the owners of…
Illinois Family Sues to End Law Threatening Them With Compulsory Eviction for a Crime They Did Not Commit
Granite City, Illinois is trying to kick Andy Simpson and Debi Brumit out of their home for a crime they didn’t commit. Andy and Debi are fighting back with IJ to uphold the basic principle…
Indiana Bans Online Eye Tests to Protect Established Businesses from Competition
Indiana bans healthcare providers from conducting online eye tests, to protect established businesses from competition.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Pipelines & Eminent Domain: Take Now, Pay (Much) Later
A pipeline company abused eminent domain to take property from the Erbs without paying them for the taking. IJ petitioned the Supreme Court to take the Erbs’ case, but unfortunately the court declined to hear…
Government Gag Orders
Government officials cannot be allowed to use the threat of overwhelming penalties and costly litigation to coerce people into forfeiting their First Amendment rights to speak freely. That is why the Cato Institute has joined…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Outdated Federal Law Threatens Unique Richmond Publisher
Valancourt Books, in Richmond, Virginia, has partnered with IJ to challenge a federal law that requires book publishers to provide two free copies of every book it publishes or face fines that could total in…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
U.S. Customs & Border Protection Unlawfully Seizes Cleveland Family’s Life Savings, Won’t Give It Back
Rustem Kazazi, a retired police officer from Albania, who now leaves in a Cleveland suburb, was flying home to Albania when Customs and Border Patrol stripped him naked and took his family’s money through the…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
D.C. Parents and Day Care Providers Sue to Stop Rule Requiring Providers to Earn College Degree to Watch Kids
D.C. recently decided to require day care workers to have a college degree. This is an unreasonable regulation drives up child care costs and deprives day care workers of their ability to earn an honest…
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Jarreau v. South LaFourche Levee District
On behalf of a Louisiana dirt farmer, IJ filed a cert petition to the United States Supreme Court to determine if the government must pay you for losses incurred when it destroys your business through…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Green Cab’s Story: Twenty-First Century Innovation Shut Out by Twentieth-Century Regulation
It is unconstitutional for the government to use its power to protect itself and other established businesses from competition. That is why Green Cab has partnered with the Institute for Justice (“IJ”) to challenge Bowling…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech | Tour Guides
Government Cannot Decide Who Is, Or Is Not, Allowed To Tell A Story
Tour guides are storytellers, and the government can’t be in the business of deciding who is (or who is not) allowed to tell stories.
Robert's Research & Reports
Immunity and Accountability
Unaccountable
The largest ever study of qualified immunity cases, Unaccountable finds the doctrine shields a wider array of officials and conduct than commonly thought while unacceptably burdening victims of government abuse and failing at its goals.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Expropriation in Puerto Rico
In a new report (released August 6), the Institute for Justice (IJ) gives Puerto Rico’s eminent domain laws a grade of “F.” IJ is a nonprofit, civil liberties law firm dedicated to ending eminent domain…
Economic Liberty
No Brotherly Love for Entrepreneurs
At nearly every level, Philadelphia’s city government and related bureaucracies operate with a one-word vocabulary: Whatever the question is, the answer is “No.” From zoning to permitting to occupational licensing, would-be entrepreneurs hear that answer…
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
Building Empires, Destroying Homes
New York is perhaps the worst state in the nation when it comes to eminent domain abuse. Government jurisdictions and agencies statewide have condemned or threatened to condemn homes and small businesses for the New…
Robert's Amicus Briefs
Ariyan v. Sewerage & Water Board
5th Circuit Court of Appeals
FIRE v. Victim Rights Law Center
U.S. Supreme Court
CHIP et al. v. City of New York
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
Cedar Point Nursery v. Hassid
U.S. Supreme Court
Barr v. American Association of Political Consultants
Violet Dock Port v. Heaphy
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Louisiana
NIFLA v. Becerra
U.S. Supreme Court
Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida
U.S. Court of Appeals Eleventh Circuit
Obergefell v. Hodges
US Supreme Court
Serafine v. Branaman
US Court of Appeals Fifth Circuit
Wollschlaeger v. Governor of Florida
US Court of Appeals 11th Circuit
Welch v. Brown
U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of California
United States v. Windsor
US Supreme Court
Coy A. Koontz, Jr., v. St. Johns River Water Management District
U.S. Supreme Court
Armour v. City of Indianapolis
Tuck-It-Away, Inc. v. NY State Urban Development Corp.
Goldstein v. New York State Urban Development Corporation
New York Supreme Court
Otis McDonald et al. v. City of Chicago
Supreme Court
Otis Mcdonald et al v. City of Chicago
Supreme Court
District of Columbia v. Heller
Supreme Court
Robert's News, Articles & Publications
Robert's Hearings
D.C. Tour Guides Oral Argument
IJ joined with Tonia Edwards and Bill Main, the owners and operators of a Segway tour company, to challenge a District of Columbia law that made it illegal for anyone to give a tour of…
DeVillier v. Texas Supreme Court Hearing
Richie DeVillier’s family has lived on their cattle ranch outside Winnie, Texas since the 1920s. Historically, rainwater on their land flowed naturally to the Gulf of Mexico. However, after the Texas Department of Transportation renovated…
Robert's Podcasts
August 04, 2026
A Rancher, a Family Farm, and 3 Supreme Court Showdowns
We are headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court with three cases in the next term. Today, we’re discussing two of those cases, which could […]
Listen NowJune 18, 2026
Rename Your Bar…or go to JAIL
Mike DiGiacomo and his siblings turned the basement of their father’s old barbershop building into a barber-themed speakeasy. But their attempt to honor their father […]
Listen NowMarch 26, 2026
City Tried to CONDEMN Property Over 2 Stray Cats
What happens when the government tries to take well-kept homes and businesses by slapping them with a “blight” label that doesn’t fit? Perth Amboy, New […]
Listen NowDecember 19, 2025
Short Circuit 407 | Master Thespians
Starting with a few lines from Shakespeare’s As You Like It, we are joined by two gentlemen of the stage, James Joseph, the first Assistant […]
Listen NowOctober 09, 2025
A Pipeline Demanded Their Land for Pennies. They Fought Back.
When the government, or even a private company, takes your land using eminent domain, the law promises you just compensation. But what about the thousands […]
Listen NowJune 16, 2025
Neat Takings Tricks | Season 3, Ep. 13
The Fifth Amendment says that the government must pay just compensation when it takes private property for public use, a command that, regrettably, is often […]
Listen NowJune 21, 2024
Public Purpose | Season 3, Ep. 8
In 2005, in the case of Kelo v. New London, the Supreme Court allowed officials to seize and raze an entire neighborhood of well-maintained homes […]
Listen NowAugust 26, 2021
Will the Supreme Court overturn its infamous decision letting developers take your property?
From pipelines to private development, the high court is indicating an interest in doing a better job for property owners
Though Susette Kelo’s fight to save her home from her city’s efforts to take it for a private developer ended in 2005, the fight against […]
Listen NowApril 30, 2021
Law for Non-Lawyers - Standards of Review (A Deep Dive Best of)
Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only “rational basis” review?
What does it mean when courts apply “strict scrutiny” in their review of a law? Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only […]
Listen NowMarch 11, 2021
Talking to a Client in the Wrong Location Makes This Counselor a Criminal
Restrictions on teletherapy hurt people and violate the First Amendment
Elizabeth Brokamp is a professional counselor who just wants to help people at a time when many Americans need it more than ever. But if […]
Listen NowFebruary 24, 2021
Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs | (A Deep Dive Best Of)
The Whys, Whens, and Hows of Being a Friend of the Court
IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum […]
Listen NowFebruary 08, 2021
Censorship, Dangerous Speech, and Monopolies
Why a modern day Fairness Doctrine isn’t the solution, what Section 230 really does, and what the current debate has to do with free speech, property rights, and even shopping malls in the 1980s
Big technology companies like Google, Twitter, and Facebook have come under scrutiny for the ways they are—and are not—controlling speech on their platforms. In today’s […]
Listen NowJanuary 04, 2021
Qualified Immunity: Are Government Officials Above the Law? (A Deep Dive Best Of)
How Government Officials Can Blow Up Your House with Grenades—and Get Away With It by Claiming Immunity
Over the past several months, a national spotlight has been on the doctrine of qualified immunity. Although much of the recent focus has been on […]
Listen NowDecember 22, 2020
When Can the Government Lock You in Your House? (A Deep Dive Best Of)
Revisiting “Quarantines and the Constitution”
With new lockdowns happening all over the country and internationally, we want to revisit the government’s use of police power. Just what does your state […]
Listen NowOctober 16, 2020
Law for Non-Lawyers: Precedent
Most people think they know what “precedent” means in the law, but the concept is actually more complicated than most realize! Precedent is ancient, but […]
Listen NowAugust 06, 2020
Can the Government Put Cameras on Your Property Without a Warrant?
Why the 4th Amendment Doesn’t Protect You Like You Think It Does
Decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court created the so-called Open Fields Doctrine. The result was an exception to 4th Amendment restrictions on the government’s ability […]
Listen NowJune 18, 2020
Why Won’t the Supreme Court Hold Police Accountable?
What’s next in the fight against qualified immunity
This term the U.S. Supreme Court closely considered eight different petitions dealing with the controversial doctrine of qualified immunity. Ultimately, it denied them all. In […]
Listen NowMay 21, 2020
Can the Government Throw You Out of Work? (Not in Some States!)
Revitalizing Legal Protections for the Right to Earn a Living
With more Americans out of work than any time in recorded history, whether or not they will be able to earn a living is top […]
Listen NowApril 30, 2020
Current Legal Challenges to COVID-19 Rules
As the coronavirus pandemic upends life and work, we dig into the latest virus-related legal developments.
We’ve all been watching the unprecedented situation with COVID-19 play out. At IJ, we have a particular interest in what’s happening in the law. This […]
Listen NowApril 03, 2020
When Can the Government Lock You in Your House? Quarantines and the Constitution
IJ Attorneys Discuss States’ Police Powers
As we all deal with the many changes in day to day life brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, have you ever wondered just what […]
Listen NowMarch 06, 2020
How Government Officials Can Blow Up Your House with Grenades - and Get Away With It by Claiming Immunity
IJ’s new project on immunity and accountability, and why it is so important
Listeners of the podcast who have also listened to IJ’s Short Circuit podcast are probably familiar with the concept of “qualified immunity.” In this episode, […]
Listen NowNovember 14, 2019
Law for Non-Lawyers - Due Process and Equal Protection
Learn the Basics of Constitutional Law
This discussion is a continuation of our foray into law for non-lawyers. Many people are familiar with the concepts of “due process” and “equal protection,” […]
Listen NowOctober 29, 2019
Law for Non-Lawyers - Standards of Review
Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only “rational basis” review?
What does it mean when courts apply “strict scrutiny” in their review of a law? Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only […]
Listen NowAugust 27, 2019
Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs
The Whys, Whens, and Hows of Being a Friend of the Court
IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum impact.
Listen Now