Sam Gedge is a senior attorney at the Institute for Justice, where he litigates to protect private property, free speech, and other individual rights.
In his time at IJ, Sam has launched cases battling civil forfeiture and overzealous licensing boards, which have generated widespread coverage in media outlets from Wired and The Atlantic to The New York Times and London’s Daily Mail. In the landmark Excessive Fines Clause case of Timbs v. Indiana, Sam twice represented Tyson Timbs before the Indiana Supreme Court. He also is lead counsel in a class-action lawsuit challenging contingency-fee prosecutors in Indiana and is on the trial team challenging a notorious policing-for-profit scheme in Brookside, Alabama.
Before joining IJ, Sam worked as an attorney at Wiley Rein LLP, where he focused on litigation and election law. He clerked for Judge Raymond W. Gruender of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eighth Circuit and graduated cum laude from Harvard Law School and summa cum laude from the University of Connecticut.
Sam's Cases
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Florida Cultivated Meat Ban
Americans love meat. According to the USDA, between beef, pork, chicken, and turkey, the average American eats nearly 225 pounds of meat per year.
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Family Jewelry Business Fights Back to End Predatory Civil Forfeitures at Indianapolis FedEx Hub
Henry and Minh Cheng, who run a wholesale jewelry business, are fighting Indiana to keep money a customer sent them through FedEx. Indiana police seized the money and prosecutors are trying to take it through…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Indiana Jury Trials
Indiana Jury Trials The right to a trial by jury is fundamental to our system of justice. Particularly when the government is trying to confiscate property, the jury (as one court has put it) “stands…
Fines and Fees | Private Property
Federal Government Seeks to Impose Multimillion Dollar Excessive Fine on Grandmother, Claiming a Fine is a “Civil Penalty.”
An Boston-area grandmother is fighting to have courts consider whether the multimillion-dollar penalty the government imposed on is unconstitutionally excessive.
4th Amendment Project | Fines and Fees | Private Property
People abused by small town’s “policing for profit” file class action seeking accountability
Victims of Brookside, Alabama's policing abuses filed a class action to affirm that police must act in the interest of justice, not their pocketbooks…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
In many counties, private lawyers prosecute civil forfeiture cases—and take a cut of the money
In Indiana, prosecutors profit off the civil forfeiture cases they prosecute, creating perverse incentives that strips Hoosiers of their basic due process rights. A federal class action lawsuit from IJ seeks to end for-profit prosecutions…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Indiana Forfeiture Defense Appeal
The state of Indiana is attempting to make Terry Abbott win back his seized money in court without a lawyer. However, IJ has stepped in to defend Terry on appeal and is urging the court…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
North Carolina’s Surveying Board Grounds Small-Business Drone Operators
Michael Jones uses his drone to take photos for clients, but North Carolina argues that in doing so he’s practicing “land surveying” and needs a license. However, that’s not at all what he’s doing and…
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services of Nevada, Inc. v. Chandra
In an appeal filed in February 2021, the Institute for Justice is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to examine the question of whether federal judges have unfettered discretion to unilaterally inject their own arguments or…
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…
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…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
There ARE Limits: IJ Takes Excessive Fines Case to the U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Supreme Court Opinon Final Victory for Tyson Timbs Case Video…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Illegal Math? A state board in Oregon is punishing people for talking about traffic lights and any other “engineering” topics
Mats Järlström is an engineer, and he used those skills to criticize the formula used on red lights, suggesting the yellow lights should last a little longer. He was hit with a $500 fine from…
Sam's Research & Reports
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
Are Municipal Fines and Fees Tools of Stategraft?
Most, if not all, incorporated communities in the United States have municipal and traffic codes that delineate the powers and duties of local governments or provide rules and regulations for public activity in the community.
Sam's Amicus Briefs
New Georgia Project, Inc., et al. v. Attorney General of Georgia, et al.
United States Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit
Nicole K., et. al. v. Stigdon, et. al.
United States Supreme Court
Marcus & Millichap Real Estate Investment Services of Nevada, et. al. v. Chandra, et. al.
United States Supreme Court
Independence Institute v. FEC
Supreme Court of the United States
Sam's Hearings
Indiana Jury Trials Oral Argument
The right to a jury trial is fundamental to our justice system. The Seventh Amendment guarantees the right to a jury trial in civil cases in federal court. Likewise, most state constitutions protect the right to a jury trial in civil cases in state court. The Indiana Constitution is no exception. Read More
North Carolina Drones Oral Argument
Michael Jones started a one-man drone operation in 2016 providing clients with photos of land that he then used software to combine into high-definition maps. But to the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors, this simple act of taking pictures was an unlicensed act of surveying and they… Read More