IJ's Cases
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Arkansas Mothers Intervene to Defend Education Freedom Accounts Program Against Lawsuit
Arkansas parents defend a state program that provides eligible families with thousands of dollars to cover certain educational expenses.
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Utah Families Defend Program That Expands Educational Opportunity
Utah families intervene to defend the Utah Fits All scholarship program, so that families have more choice with their children's' educational opportunities.
First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
Murphy v. Schmitt
Have you ever heard of someone being arrested and sent to jail for walking on the wrong side of the road? Probably not — because police officers never, or almost never,…
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Lawsuit Seeks Accountability for Unconstitutional Raid of a Political Opponent’s Home
Kansas police raided the home of a city councilwoman and seized her phone and computer in retaliation for her criticism of local officials.
Educational Choice
Parents Sue Massachusetts Over Unconstitutional Conditions for Special Education Services
Massachusetts families are fighting for the right to receive special education services at the schools their children attend.
Commercial Speech | First Amendment
Nazareth, Pennsylvania man sues over law criminalizing 'for sale' signs on cars parked on streets
Nazareth, Pennsylvania criminalizes the act of putting 'for sale' signs on cars that are parked on the street. Nazareth resident Will Cramer has teamed up with the Institute for Justice to file a lawsuit challenging this law.
Economic Liberty | Fresh Start
Virginia Woman Challenges Permanent Punishment Preventing Her from Working as a Substance Abuse Counselor
Virginia bars people with old criminal records from becoming substance abuse counselors, even when they've turned their lives around.
Commercial Speech | Economic Liberty | First Amendment
Small Business Owner Sues Illinois for the Right to Help Property Owners Claim Their Lost Property
Illinois demanded David Knott get a private detective license—complete with training in crime scenes and firearms—just to help people recover their forgotten property.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Family seeks to hold officer accountable after he led SWAT raid at wrong house
Everyone who visits a home for the first time—including delivery drivers, plumbers, and Girl Scouts—knows that you have to make sure you have the right address before barging in. Somehow, Waxahachie Police Department (WPD) Lieutenant Mike Lewis didn’t get the memo. In the dead of night, Lewis directed a heavily armed SWAT team to storm a home in which the innocent Karen Jimerson was getting ready for bed while her loved ones slept.
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Private Property
Lawsuit Challenges Warrantless Searches of Land
Louisiana game wardens have entered Tom Manuel's land uninvited and without a warrant multiple times. He's asking courts to follow the Louisiana Constitution and protect private property from unreasonable searches.
Economic Liberty
Small Dairies Fight Back After Oregon Department of Agriculture Applies Needless Rules at Request of Big Dairies
Small dairies are suing the Oregon Department of Agriculture after it applied rules meant for big dairies. The change came at the request of the dairy industry, not because of health or safety concerns.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Virginia food truck owners file federal lawsuit after raging town councilmember damaged truck, town council repeatedly harassed them
Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien are a married couple that immigrated to the United States from Haiti in 2005. They received asylum, settled in Parksley, Virginia, and opened a brick-and-mortar store that caters to the needs of the Eastern Shore’s Haitian population. But the town repeatedly harassed them, so they teamed up with IJ to file a federal lawsuit.
Economic Liberty | Private Property | Small and Home-Based Business | Zoning Justice Project
Michigan Couple File Lawsuit Against Brooks Township For Violating Michigan Constitutional Right To Open Business
A Michigan couple fight Brooks Township's ban on new cemeteries, enacted specifically to stop them from opening a conservation burial ground on their own property.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Speech
North Carolina Nonprofit and Paralegals Sue State Over First Amendment Right to Give Legal Advice
North Carolina nonprofit and paralegals challenge state's ban on nonlawyers providing legal advice, which prevents them from helping people complete simple court forms.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
A Police Raid Wrecked Her Home; Now a South Bend Mom Fights for Compensation
In South Bend, a SWAT team raided the wrong home, leaving a single mom with thousands of dollars in damage not covered by insurance. She is suing for compensation.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Small Businesses Sue St. Louis Suburb to Save Their Locations From Bogus Blight Designation
A St. Louis suburb is trying to pave the way for a massive redevelopment by calling well-kept loved family businesses.
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | Rule of Law | SWAT Destruction
Tennessee Couple Fights for Compensation After SWAT Team Destroys Their Home
Who pays when the government destroys private property for a public purpose, such as getting a fugitive off the streets? The answer should be clear: if the government breaks it, the…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
California Regulators Put Anti-spam Crusader Out of Business
Jay Fink has a simple business. If you’re a Californian getting too much spam, he’ll look through your junk folder and pull out the emails that might violate California’s anti-spam law.
First Amendment | Occupational Speech
Equine Massage Teacher Sues State of Minnesota in Federal Court for Violation of First Amendment Right to Occupational Speech
The freedom of speech is a cherished Constitutional protection, framed in the First Amendment of the Bill of Rights. It is a right many Americans take for granted and exercise on…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment
Owner of medical cannabis dispensary files federal lawsuit challenging Mississippi's ban on truthful advertising
If it’s legal to sell a product, it’s also legal to talk about that product. But not in Mississippi—at least not if the product is medical marijuana. In 2022 Mississippi…
4th Amendment Project | Private Property
New Jersey Parents File Federal Class Action Lawsuit Challenging State’s Secret Retention of Newborn Blood for 23 Years
New Jersey families challenged the state's policy of keeping blood from every baby born in the state. The state has given samples to law enforcement without a warrant.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Mother asks Supreme Court to hear case challenging immunity for school officials who abused her daughter
A New Orleans-area mother of a young girl is asking the United States Supreme Court to hear her case challenging a lower court’s decision to shield all violence by public-school officials from constitutional review. In 2020, Sonia Book’s daughter (who has nonverbal autism and is identified in the case as S.B.) was physically abused at least three times by her special-needs teachers in the classroom.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Ocean Springs Property Owners Challenge Secret Slum Designation in Federal Lawsuit
Ocean Springs, Mississippi declared properties in parts of the city blighted slums in a secretive process. Now, property owners are suing to protect their homes, businesses, and a church.
First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Immunity and Accountability
Lawsuit Seeks Accountability for Unconstitutional Silencing and Arrest During City Council Meeting
A Newton, Iowa, man was arrested twice at city council meetings for criticizing local officials, so he sued to vindicate his First Amendment rights.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Innocent Security Deposit Box Renters Demand FBI Return Missing Property
After giving up on using civil forfeiture to claim their safe deposit boxes, the FBI did not return all of Don, Jeni, and Michael's property. They are suing to get their missing coins and cash returned to them.
Eminent Domain | Private Property
Texas Family Fights to Defend Property in Historically Black Neighborhood from Port's Land Grab
Retired military nurse Pam Tilley grew up in the East End of Freeport, Texas—a historically black neighborhood that was filled with a vibrant community of homes, stores, and churches. First established…
Rule of Law | Unjust Proceedings
Lawsuit from Oklahoma Small Business Challenges Administrative Courts Handing Down Ruinous Fines
A small masonry business challenges the constitutionality of agency courts that impose devastating fines without a jury trial or independent court.
First Amendment | Occupational Speech
Small Business Owner Challenges Indiana’s Unconstitutional Restrictions on Discussing End-of-Life Care
To many, death is a taboo subject. But not to Lauren Richwine, founder of Death Done Differently, a consultant who specializes in helping those with a terminal diagnosis and their families plan for the final days of life and what will happen after death. But the state of Indiana wants to silence this speech, which is why Lauren today teamed up with the Institute for Justice (IJ) to file a federal free-speech lawsuit to tell the state that it cannot silence these important conversations about death.
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Task-Force Immunity and Accountability
Can a local police officer launder her lies and deceit through a state-federal task force to hide behind absolute federal immunity? IJ doesn’t think so, but with the help of the…
Immunity and Accountability | Rule of Law
Louisiana Inmate Held 525 Days Past His Release Seeks Justice
Percy Taylor was kept in a Louisiana prison 525 days past his release date. He is not alone in being held beyond his sentence in a Louisiana detention facility. In January…