Institute for Justice
Liberty & Law
Latest Issue
In This Issue
IJ Sails to Victory for Economic Liberty
For years, the Institute for Justice has litigated to curtail the power of federal agencies to restrict Americans’ economic freedoms. This spring, we secured another victory in that effort: IJ client Captain Matthew Hight won a lawsuit against the U.S. Coast Guard and a private monopoly’s attempt to wrongfully deprive him of his right to…
Getting Free Speech Flying Again in North Carolina
Regular Liberty & Law readers know that the First Amendment protects your right to communicate information to willing customers. In North Carolina, though, this core constitutional principle has flown over the head of at least one government agency. As a result, the North Carolina Board of Examiners for Engineers and Surveyors threatens criminal prosecution of…
Protectionism Takes Colorado Transportation Entrepreneurs for a Ride
Abdallah Batayneh came to America from Jordan with the dream of building a better life for himself and his family. An entrepreneur at heart, he runs his own cleaning company while working full time at a picturesque hot spring in the Colorado mountainside. He loves the natural beauty, and he decided to start his own…
IJ Scores an Early Victory Against Qualified Immunity in Texas
This past September, IJ filed a First Amendment lawsuit on behalf of Sylvia Gonzalez, a Castle Hills, Texas, councilmember who was harassed, bullied, and ultimately thrown in jail by political opponents. Her crime? Pure political speech: helping to organize a petition advocating for the resignation of the Castle Hills city manager. Seventy-two years old at…
Innocent Until Predicted Guilty: Florida Sheriff Punishes People for Suspected Future Crimes
The story starts with a list of people generated by a computer algorithm, which scores county residents based on mentions in police reports, personal history, and relationships. This list is then curated by police analysts and given to deputies with instructions to monitor these people, now officially deemed “prolific offenders” likely to commit crimes in…
You Swat It, You Bought It
Roughly a year ago, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals shocked advocates of property rights and government accountability when it held that the government can deliberately destroy an innocent family’s house and not compensate them for the damage. IJ sought the U.S. Supreme Court’s review, and when it denied cert we resolved to challenge…
Parent Power Expands Educational Choice and Innovation
As the lawyers for the educational choice movement, IJ has advocated for educational choice in legislatures and courtrooms across the country for nearly three decades. We have seen firsthand the difference that allowing children to pursue an education that works for them can make. And after the past year, parent frustration with the public education status quo…
IJ Defends Reforms from Coast to Coast
This is shaping up to be a banner year for educational choice legislation. The pandemic has laid bare the problems with a public school monopoly and a one-size-fits-all approach to education. Parents are demanding alternatives, and legislators are responding. But getting new programs enacted is only the first step in bringing greater educational opportunity to…
Arizona Ignores Its Own Laws to Take $39,500 from an Innocent Traveler
Small-business owner Jerry Johnson was looking to add a third semi-truck to his fleet when he learned that an auction house near Phoenix, Arizona, was auctioning off several versions of his preferred Peterbilt model. Hoping to negotiate a good deal, Jerry gathered his savings, borrowed money from family members, and boarded a plane from North…
Challenge to Airport Cash Seizures Cleared for Takeoff
With IJ’s help, Rebecca Brown, Terry Rolin, and Stacy Jones got back the money that was unconstitutionally seized from them at airports. But they, like IJ, want to stop the same thing from happening to anyone else. In March, we achieved a significant victory in pursuit of that goal when a federal court rejected the…
IJ Makes Headlines
These articles and editorials are just a sample of favorable local and national pieces IJ secured in the weeks prior to the release of the June issue of Liberty & Law. By getting our message out in print, radio, broadcast, and online media, we show the real-world consequences of government restrictions on individual liberty—and make…
