The Institute for Justice litigates to protect the constitutional rights of all Americans. IJ defends ordinary people who want to earn an honest living, own and enjoy their property, speak freely, and give their children a good education but find that the government is standing in their way.
We fight to hold government officials accountable when they violate constitutional rights and to prevent governments at all levels from bending the rules to expand their power or advance illegitimate ends.
IJ wins three out of four cases through outright courtroom victories or legislative change prompted by our lawsuits.
Featured Cases
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Private Property
Alabama Open Fields
Killen, Alabama
Three northern Alabama residents have teamed up to file a lawsuit challenging a statute that allows game wardens to trespass on private property without a warrant.
Listeners’ Guide to Martin v. US
Supreme Court Argument Resources Find out more about the case Brief for Petitioners Supreme Court Docket Listen to the argument Media Contact Andrew Wimerawimer@staging.ij.org…
4th Amendment Project | Economic Liberty | Private Property
FinCEN Border Cash Surveillance
Esperanza Gomez and Arnoldo Gonzalez, Jr. run small businesses near the U.S.-Mexico border that provide everyday, small-dollar financial services—often for customers without bank accounts. In San Diego, Esperanza helps customers cash checks (often to buy…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property | SWAT Destruction
North Carolina SWAT Destruction
A North Carolina family is seeking to hold SWAT teams accountable for raiding the wrong home in April 2024.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Health | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Texas Veterinary Speech II
Ron Hines is a veterinarian who offers advice online to customers all over the country, but Texas said his speech was illegal. Now his case can move ahead on First Amendment grounds.
Carolina Beach Food Trucks
In late August 2018, a little over a week after IJ launched a lawsuit, challenging Carolina Beach’s food truck restrictions, the town repealed its food truck restrictions due to the threat of IJ’s lawsuit.
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Carson v. Makin
Video Interview with Attorney and Parent Supreme Court Decision School Choice Myths & Realities…
Commercial Speech | First Amendment | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Virginia Books
Valancourt Books, in Richmond, Virginia, has partnered with IJ to challenge a federal law that requires book publishers to provide two free copies of every book it publishes or face fines that could total in…
Washington Work Study
Summit Christian Academy wanted to hire college students to be tutors under the state’s work-study program, but Washington officials barred the academy from doing so, simply because it’s a religious school. After IJ got involved…
North Carolina CON
In Spring 2020, Dr. Gajendra Singh had to close his imaging center, in part because of the enormous costs imposed by the CON law. As a result, Dr. Singh’s lawsuit could not continue, but shortly…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Mississippi Mapping
An overly-broad statute defined a small mapping company in Mississippi as an “unlicensed surveying” company. This statute would have shut down Vizaline, but with help from IJ, Vizaline fought back to protect its First Amendment…
Economic Liberty | Health | Occupational Licensing
Georgia Lactation Consultants
For decades, Mary Jackson has worked as a lactation consultant, helping new moms and babies during a critical time in their lives. Then one day, Georgia passed the nation’s most restrictive licensing regime for lactation…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Cleveland Forfeiture
Rustem Kazazi, a retired police officer from Albania, who now leaves in a Cleveland suburb, was flying home to Albania when Customs and Border Patrol stripped him naked and took his family’s money through the…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Puerto Rico School Choice
In March 2018, the Puerto Rican legislature enacted the Free School Selection Program, which gives needy families scholarships so that they can send their children to the school of their choice. A teachers’ union immediately…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
Doraville Ticketing
The Supreme Court has made it clear that it is unconstitutional for a justice system to be influenced by perverse incentives to raise municipal revenue. That’s why two Doraville homeowners and two Doraville drivers have…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Houston Forfeiture
Anthonia Nwaorie, a registered nurse and grandmother from Texas was flying to see family in Nigeria when Customs and Border Patrol took her life savings without ever charging her with a crime. So, she joined…