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Home Free: IJ Celebrates Final Victory in Six-Year Battle to Save Pleasant Ridge Neighborhood
“I know now that we have more than just a chance. I know that we’re going to keep our homes. It’s going to be a long battle, but we’re up for it.” That’s what Charlestown, Indiana, resident Tina Barnes said through tears when IJ joined her and her neighbors to save their homes from a…
Florida Woman Fights $100,000 Fine for Parking in Her Own Driveway
We all hate getting parking tickets. Now imagine how you would feel getting a ticket not for how you parked on a public street but because an enforcement official didn’t like the way your car was parked in your own driveway. And what if instead of a small amount, the government tried to fine you…
In an Oasis, This Arizona City Sees Property Rights as a Mirage
Amanda Root has lived in the Cloud 9 area of Sierra Vista, Arizona, for more than 20 years on a small lot she owns free and clear. Amanda originally lived in a mobile home but lost it to a fire in 2016, leaving her temporarily homeless. Fortunately, friends gave her a trailer that she has…
Pandemic Diaries
IJ’s Center for Judicial Engagement (CJE) has published pieces in a great many places over the years. In 2019, we went a step further and launched our very own blog. In these days of social media, people sometimes forget about blogs, but they remain a powerful way to reach readers, unfiltered by outside editors. As…
IJ Serves Up a Food Freedom Victory in North Dakota and Turns On the Heat in Wisconsin
After a grim 2020, North Dakota’s cottage food producers rang in the New Year with a victory for economic liberty. Thanks to an IJ lawsuit against the North Dakota Department of Health’s overregulation of cottage food—that is, food made in a home kitchen for sale—a state court judge has vindicated North Dakotans’ right to sell…
Common Threads in the Fight for Economic Liberty
An IJ victory in one case can spark other projects that build on that success. That’s what happened with IJ’s 2015 victory in Patel v. Texas Department of Licensing and Regulation. The Texas Supreme Court struck down the state’s licensing requirements for eyebrow threaders, putting forth a new legal standard that takes into account the…
Charlottesville Author Turns the Page on a Villainous Writer Tax
Being an entrepreneur is hard enough these days without the government taking ever more hard-earned nickels and dimes. That is especially true when it is trying to tax you just for the privilege of sitting at your desk and writing stories. This past January, thanks to IJ, a chapter ended for one unnecessary license that…
James King’s Fight for Accountability Continues
On February 25, the U.S. Supreme Court issued its decision in Brownback v. King, the first case in IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability to reach the high court. While the Justices sided with the government on an obscure issue of jurisdiction, handing it a technical win, they declined the government’s request to end James…
Mounting Evidence Makes Clear: Forfeiture Doesn’t Work
As IJ’s cases have demonstrated time and again, civil forfeiture is a fundamental threat to the property and due process rights of all Americans. More than that, mounting evidence shows those threats come without any real payoff: Forfeiture simply doesn’t work. The latest evidence comes from a new IJ strategic research report by Seattle University…
IJ Court Victory Helps Shine a Light on Forfeiture
As Liberty & Law readers know, when it comes to civil forfeiture, transparency is both vitally important and too often lacking. IJ client Carter Walker, a reporter, has been working for years to increase that transparency in Lancaster, Pennsylvania. In February, IJ won a total victory for Carter at Pennsylvania’s intermediate appellate court—a victory that…
How Jerusalem Demsas Made Her Gift to IJ Go Viral
Last summer, Jerusalem Demsas made a donation to support IJ’s fight to end qualified immunity. Jerusalem’s passion for justice and her commitment to sharing it with the world spurred 220 other donations and more than $22,000 in gifts. This multiplying magic shows the power of crowdfunding: using social media to magnify support for an organization…
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 April 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…
