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AirBnB Property Manager Files Constitutional Challenge To Pa. Real Estate Licensing Regime

July 18, 2017

Statement Responding to DOJ’s Announced Policy Change Increasing Use of Civil Forfeiture

July 19, 2017

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 15 consecutive 4-star ratings

Labor Secretary Calls for Licensing Reform

Did you know that many states require people to get government permission just to braid somebody’s hair, give massages, work as a locksmith, or sell floral arrangements? U.S. Labor Secretary Alexander Acosta took on such burdensome occupational licensing requirements in a recent speech to the American Legislative Exchange Council in Denver. He enthusiastically encouraged state…

No Food Trucks for Fashion Week

Visitors to Milan’s Fashion Week will find ample clothing on the runway, but fewer food options on the streets. In fact, tourists to famed attractions in Northern Italy’s largest metropolis will find a broadly chillier welcome than they might have expected in the Lombardy capital. As part of ramped up efforts to deter what Milanese…

Coalition Calls on Congress to Quickly Pass Civil Forfeiture Reform

July 20, 2017 Chairman Bob Goodlatte Committee on the Judiciary United States House of Representatives Washington, DC 20515 Chairman Chuck Grassley Committee on the Judiciary United States Senate Washington, DC 20510 RE: Call to Pass Civil Forfeiture Reform Quickly and Independently Dear Chairman Goodlatte and Chairman Grassley: On behalf of the undersigned organizations dedicated to…

Arlington, Texas Messes with Yard Sales

When people think of yard or garage sales, they usually think of an age-old American tradition where families make some extra cash by selling household clutter to willing neighbors and passersby. They don’t tend to think of hostile city code enforcement or exorbitant misdemeanor fines for selling your own belongings on your own lawn. Yet…

Minnesota Supreme Court Upholds Unconstitutional Searches of Renters’ Homes

St. Paul, Minn.—In a blow to the constitutional rights of Minnesotan renters, the state Supreme Court ruled today that cities do not need to provide evidence of a suspected housing code violation in order to obtain an administrative search warrant to inspect renters’ homes without their permission. Today’s decision denies Minnesota’s renters—and the landlords who…

Civil Forfeiture Is Inherently Abusive

Statement Responding to DOJ’s Announced Policy Change Increasing Use of Civil Forfeiture

Today, Attorney General Jeff Sessions announced that the Department of Justice would repeal reforms intended to curb federal law enforcement agencies’ use of civil forfeiture. In response, Institute for Justice Senior Attorney and Director of its Nationwide Initiative to End Forfeiture Darpana Sheth issued the following statement: Civil forfeiture is inherently abusive. No one should…

AirBnB Property Manager Files Constitutional Challenge To Pa. Real Estate Licensing Regime

Pennsylvania’s protectionist law requires a real estate license, a brick-and-mortar office, passing two exams and working for a broker for three years, just to help manage AirBnB rentals

Sally Ladd has always had a knack for technology. So as she started to near retirement a few years ago, she saw an opportunity to make some extra money by starting her own business helping fellow Pocono Mountain property owners list and manage their vacation rentals on websites like AirBnB and others. After three years…

When the government gets in your way, have you ever stopped and asked why?

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Our Issues

School Choice

School choice is simply the idea that all parents, regardless of means, should enjoy the freedom to choose what schools their children attend.
more on this issue »
Economic Liberty

The right to earn a living in the occupation of your choice without unnecessary government interference is at the heart of the American Dream.
more on this issue »
First Amendment

We seek to defend the free flow of information—information that is indispensable to our democratic form of government and to our free enterprise economy.
more on this issue »
Private Property

Respecting the right of private property is essential to a just and prosperous society. But government at all levels—local, state and federal—routinely infringe on these rights.
more on this issue »

Sung Cho

Sung Cho owns and operates Super Laundromat and Drycleaners, one of the largest laundromats in Manhattan. Sung could be evicted, and his business closed, simply because his business was the site of a crime. The identity of the criminals was beside the point.

Michelle and Steven Freenor

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.

Jeff Hirsch

Jeff has spent almost 30 years building a successful small business with his brothers, distributing candy, snacks and other goods to convenience stores throughout Long Island. But the government raided the business’s bank account using civil forfeiture—taking $446,000 and nearly destroying the family business. T

Troy King

Heather Coffy

Heather is a single mom and has three children she wants to participate in Indiana’s school choice program.

Lata Jagtiani

Lata has been threading since she was a teenager in India and saw a need for threading services in the New Orleans metropolitan area. But in June 2016, state regulators fined her business for employing unlicensed threaders, and ordered Lata to fire her unlicensed employees.

Celeste Kelly

IJ client Celeste Kelly spent hundreds of hours learning about horses in order to obtain private certifications in animal massage. But now the state of Arizona is forcing her to become a licensed veterinarian to continue practicing her craft.

Aicheria Bell

Aicheria Bell lives in Des Moines. She is passionate about natural hair care and has been braiding hair since she was three years old.

Ted and Lauren Dzierzbicki

IJ clients Ted and Lauren Dzierzbicki wonder if the government can arbitrarily restrict the property rights of some individuals but not others.

Russ Caswell

Russ Caswell and his family have owned and operated the Motel Caswell in Tewksbury, Mass., for two generations. The Caswells nearly had their property taken from them by local and federal law enforcement officials through a process known as civil forfeiture.

Jeffrey, Richard and Mitch Hirsch

Brothers Jeffrey, Richard and Mitch Hirsch owned Bi-County Distributors Inc., a small distribution business in Long Island, N.Y. The IRS used a legal process called civil forfeiture to seize their entire bank account—more than $446,000—even though they had done nothing wrong. After the brothers filed a lawsuit, the IRS returned their hard-earned cash.

Ricardo Quintanilla

Ricardo Quintanilla operates Tacos el Regio but San Antonio’s vending restrictions make it difficult to operate.

Regino Soriano

Regino Soriano owns a popular food truck named El Bandolero, but his plans to expand have been significantly restricted by San Antonio’s city’s 300-foot rule.

Christos and Markela Sourovelis

Chris and Markela Sourovelis worked their whole lives to build a home for their family. Officials in Philadelphia then tried to use civil forfeiture to take it all away, even though Chris and Markela did nothing wrong.

Susette Kelo

Isis Brantley

For decades, Isis Brantley has fought for her right to braid hair and to pass on her knowledge to others. She successfully sued the state of Texas after it attempted to force her to turn her braiding school into a barber college.

Ushaben Chudasama

Ushaben used to thread part-time at the Threading Studio & Spa near New Orleans, often filling in for licensed estheticians when they were unable to work. But after state regulators ordered the business to terminate its unlicensed threaders, Ushaben is no longer permitted to thread in the studio.

Mike Warfield

Fed up with Charleston’s endless series of trivial questions, Mike is standing up for his First Amendment right to talk to paying customers without first getting the government’s permission.

Korver Ear Nose and Throat LLC

Senator Lisa Torraco

Senator Lisa Torraco, a Republican representing Bernalillo County, N.M., was the initial sponsor for the Forfeiture Reform Law in the State Senate.

Arlene Harjo

Arlene Harjo entered the world of civil forfeiture in April 2016, when her son, Tino, was arrested while driving her two-year-old Nissan Versa.

Charlie Birnbaum

Charlie Birnbaum is fighting to keep his family home in Atlantic City, N.J., which has been in his family for 50 years. But New Jersey wants to take it for the benefit of a bankrupt casino.

Mildred Bryant

Mildred Bryant is 84 years old and living out her golden years in the home she’s owned for 46 years in Pagedale, Missouri. But she faces a real threat of tickets, fines, and imprisonment from the town.

Larry Miller

Larry Miller has been fighting for the rights of Atlanta’s vendors for the past twenty-five years.

Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto

Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto, a Democrat representing Bernalillo County, carried the Forfeiture Reform bill on the floor of the Senate.

Sally Ladd

Terry Dehko and Sandy Thomas

Terry Dehko and his family have owned and operated the Schott’s Market in Fraser, Mich., for 35 years. The Dehkos had $35,000 taken from them by federal law enforcement officials through a process known as civil forfeiture.

Robert and Rebecca McCaughtry

Under Red Wing, Minn.’s rental inspection ordinance, it is easier for the government to force its way into the homes of law-abiding citizens than it is to search the home of a suspected criminal. Robert and Rebecca joined a lawsuit to stop these unreasonable and intrusive inspections of their private residential properties.

Thomas Halsnik

IJ client Thomas Halsnick is a limousine driver and entrepreneur who is required to charge consumers $50 a ride—no matter how short the ride—even though he want to charge less.

Bill Von Winkle

Tameka Stigers

IJ client Tameka Stigers is the proud owner of a braiding business, but Missouri’s arbitrary and irrational cosmetology regime threatens her livelihood.

Ben Burris

IJ client Dr. Ben Burris is an Arkansas orthodontist who wants to offer low-cost teeth cleanings to people who cannot otherwise afford them. But it is illegal for him to perform basic dental services, even though he is a licensed dentist.

Laura Pekarik

IJ client Laura Pekarik is an entrepreneurial dynamo who owns and operates the Cupcakes for Courage food truck.

Susette Kelo

Susette is the Kelo in Kelo v. New London. She led her neighbors in a seven-year battle to save their homes from being taken by the government for private development, culminating in the landmark U.S. Supreme Court decision in 2005.

Elmer Kilian

IJ client Elmer Kilian has been preparing taxes for the past 30 years on his dining room table. He fought and successfully defended his right to earn an honest living without getting permission from the IRS.

Robin Farris

Robin Farris beat Washington state’s Public Disclosure Commission with IJ’s help. She fought for the right to sue the government to protect our constitutional rights.

Teresa Quinones

Teresa Quinones, of Lawrenceville, Ga., is a mother of three young children. Her two oldest children, Audri and Christopher, attend Notre Dame Academy, thanks to Georgia’s Scholarship Tax-Credit Program.

Michael Peticolas

Michael Peticolas owns Peticolas Brewing, located in an industrial neighborhood near downtown Dallas. In 2013, Texas passed a law that prohibits brewers from negotiating with distributors for the value of their territorial rights. Instead, the law forces brewers to give those rights away for free. That jeopardizes his plans to expand into other parts of Texas.

Aurora Espinoza

Aurora Espinoza is a single mom who works a full‑time job to make ends meet, has two daughters who are trapped by their zip code in some of the worst public schools in the state.

Opternative

Opternative is a Chicago-based internet startup that offers consumers a simple promise: Get a new prescription for glasses or contacts from the comfort of your own home. In most states, Opternative’s technology allows doctors to provide faster and better service to more people—but not in South Carolina.

David Vocatura

Vocatura’s Bakery was founded in 1919, almost one hundred years ago, and has been owned and operated by three generations of the Vocatura family. Claiming the owners violated so-called “structuring” laws by depositing cash in the bakery’s bank account in amounts less than $10,000, the IRS seized more than $68,000 from the family.

IJ By the Numbers

4 Litigation Pillars

Economic Liberty
Property Rights
School Choice
Free Speech

Support

80% from individuals
20% from foundations

IJ litigated 5 U.S. Supreme Court cases since 2002, including 4 victories

IJ is currently litigating 43 cases in 26 states and Washington, D.C.

7 offices

103 employees, including 44 attorneys

Attorneys

Staff

1080 Partners giving $1,000 or more each year

Over 8,000 individual donors

= 25 donors

$25 million budget in FY18

FY17 Budget Breakdown

81%: Programs

11%: Administration

8%: Development

91 legislative reforms secured

48 national awards for communications

70%

Success Rate

Through litigation and legislation

IJ strategic research cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and in 192 articles in scholarly, law, and policy publications.

64 eminent domain projects and blight designations defeated by IJ activism.

Behind the Scenes at IJ

Major Hearing in Charm City

Today we appeared before the Circuit Court for Baltimore City to find the city’s 300-foot ban for food trucks unconstitutional. PHOTO: IJ attorneys Greg Reed (left) and Robert Frommer (right) addressing the media after the hearing.
Victory in Chicago!

Victory! The Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneur has been providing legal support and legislative advocacy for Chicago’s street vendors for more than 8 years. Yesterday was the ribbon cutting for their shared kitchen space and it is a day that marks their ability to come out of the shadow economy, comply with the law, and serve delicious treats on Chicago’s streets without fear of harassment, fines or arrest.
Testifying before the Louisiana Senate

14 braiders joined IJ at the Louisiana Senate on May 31 for a hearing on our 2 braiding freedom bills. IJ’s Lee McGrath and Michelle, a Shreveport braider, testified before the Senate Committee on Commerce, Consumer Protection and International Affairs.
Victory in Little Rock!

IJ client Ken Leininger won his lawsuit against the city of Little Rock and now has his new taxi permits!
Victory in Chicago!

Vicky Lugo, leader of the Institute for Justice Clinic on Entrepreneurship client Street Vendors Association of Chicago(SVAC), is proud to present the business license for the SVAC commercial shared kitchen space! Lugo and SVAC have been working since 2015, when the Chicago ordinance legalizing street food was passed, to create a shared kitchen space for SVAC’s vendors who sell delicious, traditional Mexican treats on Chicago’s streets.

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Coalition Calls on Congress to Quickly Pass Civil Forfeiture Reform

Institute for Justice

Homepage

AirBnB Property Manager Files Constitutional Challenge To Pa. Real Estate Licensing Regime

Statement Responding to DOJ’s Announced Policy Change Increasing Use of Civil Forfeiture

Less than 1% of 8,000 charities rated have received at least 15 consecutive 4-star ratings

Rek LeCounte | Update | July 27, 2017

Rek LeCounte | Update | July 25, 2017

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | July 20, 2017

Rek LeCounte | Update | July 20, 2017

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | July 19, 2017

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | July 19, 2017

Statement Responding to DOJ’s Announced Policy Change Increasing Use of Civil Forfeiture

J. Justin Wilson | Press Release | July 18, 2017

Pennsylvania’s protectionist law requires a real estate license, a brick-and-mortar office, passing two exams and working for a broker for three years, just to help manage AirBnB rentals

When the government gets in your way, have you ever stopped and asked why?

EVERYTHING

Watch the Institute for Justice’s award-winning short film spotlighting the importance of compensating bone marrow donors.

SUPPORT OUR WORK

The National Law Firm for Liberty

Our Issues

School Choice

Economic Liberty

First Amendment

Private Property

IJ By the Numbers

4 Litigation Pillars

Support

IJ litigated 5 U.S. Supreme Court cases since 2002, including 4 victories

IJ is currently litigating 43 cases in 26 states and Washington, D.C.

7 offices

103 employees, including 44 attorneys

Attorneys

Staff

1080 Partners giving $1,000 or more each year

Over 8,000 individual donors

FY17 Budget Breakdown

81%: Programs

11%: Administration

8%: Development

91 legislative reforms secured

48 national awards for communications

70%

Success Rate

Through litigation and legislation

IJ strategic research cited by the U.S. Supreme Court and in 192 articles in scholarly, law, and policy publications.

64 eminent domain projects and blight designations defeated by IJ activism.

Behind the Scenes at IJ

Major Hearing in Charm City

Victory in Chicago!

Testifying before the Louisiana Senate

Victory in Little Rock!

Victory in Chicago!

JOIN THE FIGHT! Sign up for newsletters:

Footer Signup

Litigating for Liberty.

JOIN THE FIGHT!