Suranjan M. Sen is an Attorney at the Institute for Justice. Suranjan graduated from Yale Law School in 2019, where he was a senior editor of both the Yale Law Journal on Regulation and the Yale Law & Policy Review. During and immediately after law school, Suranjan spent a summer clerking for Chief Judge Susan G. Braden of the U.S. Court of Federal Claims, and he spent two summers working for the law firm Sullivan & Cromwell. For the year between law school and joining IJ, Suranjan clerked for Judge Jerry E. Smith of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.
Suranjan, who is from Tennessee, earned a bachelor’s degree from Vanderbilt University in 2010 with double majors in music and political science. His time between college and law school was bookended by two year-long academic fellowships abroad: A teaching position within United International College, Zhuhai’s Government and International Relations department (People’s Republic of China), and a student of Indian language and culture with the American Institute of Indian Studies (India). He otherwise was a full-time musician when not assisting with his family’s small business. It was his experience with that small business that inspired him to pursue a career as a litigator and join the IJ team.
Suranjan's Cases
Miami's Unconstitutional Land Taking Scheme Targets More Than a Thousand Homeowners Across the City
A Miami homeowner and Navy veteran is challenging the city's practice of demanding that permit applicants surrender portions of their property without just compensation.
Private Property | Rental Caps
Lawsuit Challenges New York Law That Keeps Apartments Off the Market During a Housing Crisis
Small property owners challenge New York's rent stabilization laws on vacant apartments, which keep tens of thousands of units empty amid a housing crisis.
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Private Property
Alabama Residents File Lawsuit Challenging Statute Permitting Game Wardens to Search Private Property Without Warrant
Three northern Alabama residents have teamed up to file a lawsuit challenging a statute that allows game wardens to trespass on private property without a warrant.
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Institute for Justice Files Lawsuit Challenging Florida’s Ban on Cultivated Meat
Florida banned cultivated meat to protect its cattle industry from competition, but the Constitution prohibits states from closing their borders to innovative out-of-state products.
Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property | SWAT Destruction
Tennessee Couple Fights for Compensation After SWAT Team Destroys Their Home
Who pays when the government destroys private property for a public purpose, such as getting a fugitive off the streets? The answer should be clear: if the government breaks it, the government buys it.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Ocean Springs Property Owners Challenge Secret Slum Designation in Federal Lawsuit
Ocean Springs, Mississippi declared properties in parts of the city blighted slums in a secretive process. Now, property owners are suing to protect their homes, businesses, and a church.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | SWAT Destruction
Innocent Small Business Owner Seeks Compensation After Shop Destroyed by SWAT Team
For thirty years, Carlos Pena ran a print shop in North Hollywood. His world was turned upside down, however, in August 2022, when a fugitive forced his way into Carlos’s shop and barricaded himself inside…
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…
Housing Abundance and Affordability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Zoning Justice Project
Lawsuit Challenges Seattle’s Mandatory Housing Affordability Law—A Law That Makes Building Housing Unaffordable
Seattle's Mandatory Housing Affordability law is making it unaffordable to build housing.
Woman Challenges Arizona City's Ban on Feeding People for "Charitable Purposes"
Norma Thornton was arrested for feeding the hungry in Bullhead City Community Park. Now, Norma has teamed up with IJ to fight back against Bullhead's law criminalizing charitable sharing in federal court.
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.
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 | Food Freedom
Wisconsin Cottage Foods II
Wisconsin bans the sale of many homemade foods, including common and shelf-stable foods like candies, chocolates, granola and roasted coffee beans. Seven Wisconsinites have joined with IJ to challenge the state’s arbitrary law.
Suranjan's Amicus Briefs
Community Housing Improvement Program, et al. v. City of New York, et al.
United States Supreme Court
CHIP et al. v. City of New York
2nd Circuit Court of Appeals
Suranjan's News, Articles & Publications
Suranjan's Podcasts
May 15, 2026
Short Circuit 428 | Shopping With Roy Moore
You may remember Roy Moore’s 2017 campaign in Alabama for the U.S. Senate in which a controversy arose as to his behavior at the Gadsden […]
Listen NowFebruary 26, 2026
NYC has 1000’s of empty apartments. You'll never guess why.
New York City is in a housing crisis—and according to official statistics, roughly 26,000 rent stabilized apartments sit vacant. That’s because New York City law […]
Listen NowNovember 28, 2025
Short Circuit 404 | A Permit to Pray?
Can a city require you to get a permit if you’re having a few people over to pray? In an Ohio town it was a […]
Listen Now