Lawsuit filed by Wisconsin food producers challenging state’s homemade shelf-stable good ban will move forward
DARLINGTON, Wis.—Today, Judge Rhonda L. Lanford, presiding over Lafayette County Circuit Court, denied a request from the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) to dismiss a lawsuit brought by seven Wisconsinites and the Wisconsin Cottage Food Association with the Institute for Justice (IJ) challenging the state’s ban on homemade shelf-stable foods. In…
These owners have not been charged with any crime, but the government is trying to permanently take their most prized possessions—without telling them why
LOS ANGELES—Using civil forfeiture, the U.S. Department of Justice is seeking to permanently take the contents of hundreds of safe deposit boxes, including over $85 million in cash and precious metals, jewelry and other valuables worth millions more. But the boxes’ owners have not been accused of any crime and have not been told what…
Although the method is verboten at the U.S. Supreme Court, a few states allow their supreme courts to give “advisory opinions” to the state legislature on pending legislation. The idea is, why risk passing important laws that might eventually be ruled unconstitutional if the court can give a “heads up” either way ahead of time?…
The Indiana Supreme Court confirms that forfeiting Tyson’s car violates the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause
Arlington, Va.—Indiana man Tyson Timbs’s fight against civil forfeiture made national news in February 2019, when the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that the Eighth Amendment’s Excessive Fines Clause applies not just to the federal government, but to the states as well. That decision established a rule of law for Americans nationwide. But it didn’t get…
New bill addresses major problems identified in the report
WASHINGTON—Yesterday, Ward 2 Councilmember Brooke Pinto introduced the Business and Entrepreneurship Support to Thrive (BEST) Amendment Act of 2021, to streamline the licensing process for new and existing businesses. Today, a new report by the Institute for Justice (IJ) underscores the vital need to pass this reform—especially as so many recover from the personal and financial burdens of the pandemic. The report, Blueprint for Business: Cutting Red Tape and Supporting DC…
Wilmington resident files First Amendment lawsuit to protect his right to speak from his expertise and experience
WILMINGTON, N.C.—Wayne Nutt is an engineer. He graduated with a degree in engineering and worked most of his career in North Carolina without ever needing a license to actually work as an engineer. But now, the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors is telling Wayne that speaking publicly about engineering without a…
A legal attack attempts to end Kentucky’s “Education Opportunity Account” (EOA) Program
FRANKFORT, Ky.—Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ) moved to intervene on behalf of Florence, Kentucky, parent Akia McNeary and Newport, Kentucky, great-grandparent Nancy Deaton to defend Kentucky’s bold new school choice program, the Education Opportunity Account (EOA) Program, from a lawsuit filed Monday. IJ is the nation’s leading advocate for school choice, having won 24 school choice litigation fights, including three at the…