With change, Linda Cameron can finally renovate her home without also having to pay to renovate a nearby city street
Following a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice, the City of Richland has ended its practice of unconstitutionally forcing homeowners to upgrade city streets as a condition of obtaining a building permit. As a result of that change, Linda Cameron is free to renovate her Richland home without first paying upwards of $60,000…
National advocate for food entrepreneurs rebukes attempt by Lancaster County Health Department to undermine recently passed state reforms
Lincoln, Neb.—Less than a year after Nebraska Gov. Pete Ricketts signed legislation allowing Nebraskans to sell safe homemade foods, the Lancaster County Health Department introduced a bill that, if passed, would be a major step back for food entrepreneurs and the “buy local” movement. The Institute for Justice (IJ), a national advocate for home-based entrepreneurs,…
Miladis Salgado luchó con éxito para recuperar el dinero de la quinceañera de su hija, pero ahora el gobierno se niega a pagar los honorarios de su abogado
MIAMI—El 11 de mayo de 2015, Miladis Salgado regresó a su casa y descubrió que su vida tuvo un giro inesperado. Mientras ella estaba trabajando, la policía ingresó a su casa y confiscó sus ahorros de toda la vida—$15.000 en efectivo que ella estaba ahorrando para la quinceañera de su hija—a partir de información de…
Late yesterday, Governor Phil Murphy signed a bill (A4970) that will require a criminal conviction before civil forfeiture. Unlike criminal forfeiture, civil forfeiture typically allows the government to take and keep property without charging anyone with a crime. Thanks to the governor’s signature, New Jersey is now the 16th state with a conviction prerequisite to…
After police had a ten-hour standoff with an empty house—eventually destroying everything inside—a court ruled there wasn’t anything they could do about it. Now the Institute for Justice is launching a new project to ask the courts to reexamine doctrines giving government officials broad immunity from accountability
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 a petition to the Supreme Court of the United States filed today by the Institute for Justice (IJ) on behalf…
DEA seized more than $82,000 from retiree’s daughter as she traveled through the Pittsburgh airport
PITTSBURGH—Terry Rolin’s life savings of $82,373 were seized by the federal government even though he has not been charged with any crime. In fact, his daughter was doing something completely legal—flying domestically with cash—when the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) seized the money in August 2019 at the Pittsburgh International Airport. Today, Terry and his daughter…
Pottstown Renters Score Major Win In Challenge To Unconstitutional Rental Inspections
Pottstown, Penn.—This morning, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania issued an opinion vacating and remanding a lower court’s ruling in favor of Pottstown in a lawsuit challenging the borough’s rental inspection ordinance. This law allows the borough to enter residents’ homes without cause and without the residents’ consent. The Court also reversed the trial court’s orders…