Videos

DEA Caught Red-Handed, Airport Searches Grounded

Yesterday, the Department of Justice suspended the Drug Enforcement Administration’s controversial practice of having agents intercept travelers, interrogate them, and insist on searching their bags in what the agency calls ...“consensual encounters.”

That suspension comes on the heels of an Office of the Inspector General report that criticizes the practice and refers to shocking footage of one traveler’s experience, which IJ released on YouTube in July.

Watch the footage here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0XBzV0bDZdQ[+] Show More

DEA Caught Red-Handed, Airport Searches Grounded

Yesterday, the Department of Justice suspended the Drug Enforcement ...

Senior Citizens Jailed for Exposing Corruption

In the United States, elected officials, citizens, and journalists ...

In the United States, elected officials, citizens, and journalists must feel free to express differences of opinion. When those in power intimidate their opponents into silence, it strikes at the ...heart of American governance. But holding officials accountable when they violate basic constitutional rights can be nearly impossible, especially when they are law enforcers. A new Institute for Justice lawsuit seeks to change that.

Escambia County is in lower Alabama on the border of the Florida Panhandle. Like many American counties, the public schools are governed by a county school board and a superintendent. In 2021, the Board hired Michele McClung as superintendent. Her contract was for three school years. McClung quickly developed a close relationship with local officials, including the district attorney, county sheriff, and a few board members.

But two years into her tenure, state auditors called a meeting with the Board about the district’s financial practices. Despite the issues with ongoing audit, McClung’s allies in Escambia County rallied around her and even tried to extend her contract. In August 2023, McClung’s allies sprung a surprise vote at a Board meeting to extend McClung’s contract for another four years. The timing was highly unusual and more than six months ahead of schedule. The vote ultimately failed three votes to four. That’s when things really went off the rails.

Two of the “no” votes were Sherry Digmon and Cindy Jackson. Sherry has long been a Board member. She also started Atmore News back in 2005, which is a weekly newspaper covering Escambia County. Like Sherry, Cindy has also been an active member in the community, working for the school district for almost three decades, and serving with Sherry on the Board. After Sherry and Cindy voted “no,” the district attorney and country sheriff started a public campaign to intimidate them into supporting McClung.

As part of that scheme, the district attorney sent a bogus subpoena to the Board asking about old COVID-19 payments authorized by McClung’s predecessor. (This was likely just a distraction to take the focus off McClung.) That subpoena was served on Ashley Fore, who grew up in Escambia County and now works as the payroll supervisor. Ashley shared the subpoena with her boss, who sent it to Cindy, who sent it to Sherry (along with the rest of the Board). Then, after more public threats by the sheriff and district attorney, Don Fletcher, a journalist for Atmore News, published a story disclosing the subpoena and highlighting the coordinated attack against anyone who questioned McClung.

In response, the district attorney, the sheriff, and his deputies went after Sherry, Cindy, Ashley, and Don—the “Atmore Four.” The powers-that-be had the Atmore Four arrested and charged with felonies, their cell phones seized, and even tried to have Sherry impeached for their political disagreement. That retaliation violates the First and Fourth Amendments to the U.S. Constitution. So now, the Atmore Four are teaming up with the Institute for Justice to sue the local Escambia County officials responsible for violating their constitutional rights.[+] Show More

When Lawsuits Go Viral with @thecivilrightslawyer

The proliferation of video is changing how Americans fight for their ...

Texas Bans Qualified Social Workers Over Old Mistakes

Texas—and the country—face a two-fold problem: an exploding mental ...

Big Win for Small Farmers: Oregon Rule Changes After Lawsuit

Having achieved what they sought, four small Oregon dairy farms ...

IJ's Smashing Unfair Licensing Laws—One State at a Time!

Oklahoma eyelash extension specialist Brandy Davis has officially ...

Police Jailed the Wrong Woman On Christmas

On Christmas Eve 2022, Jennifer Heath Box was arrested after getting ...

Liberty Isn't Dead Yet: IJ Exorcises a Cemetery Ban

Prohibiting entrepreneurs like Peter and Annica from using their ...

Officer Caught Snitching on Domestic Abuse Victim

In 2013, a Clovis, California police officer found out that his ...

'For Sale' Signs Are Finally Legal in This Town

The decision to repeal this unconstitutional ordinance is a win for ...

Town Council Blocks Business for Causing...Competition?!?

In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in ...

FBI Forfeiture Fail—Justice Served!

Years after the FBI’s unconstitutional raid of a safe deposit box ...

City Council Bans Working Mother From Opening Biz

In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in ...

In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Businesses compete, and the consumer ultimately decides which services or products they want. The idea that ...anyone can open a storefront and demonstrate their value to the community is part of the American Dream. But in South Fulton, Georgia, that dream has been upended by government officials who denied Awa Diagne a business license because she would be competing with more politically favored shops. That’s why Awa has teamed up with the Institute for Justice and filed suit against the city for its zoning abuse.

https://ij.org/case/south-fulton-protectionist-zoning/

Awa epitomizes the American Dream. Originally from Senegal, Awa immigrated here more than 30 years ago and is an American citizen. She worked in downtown Atlanta as an African hair braider for decades and raised a family of six children.

In 2021, Awa moved to South Fulton with her family so they could attend a great local school. Awa planned to keep working out of her Atlanta shop, but tragedy struck. The day after they moved into their new home, Awa’s husband Bathie went to the hospital with COVID-19. He never came home. Without her husband for help, Awa could no longer run her Atlanta store, but she still needed to work.

She found the perfect place—a storefront in a busy shopping center right between her home and her kids’ school. Awa worked with the city on the paperwork and signed a lease. Between rent, the security deposit, and building out her shop, Awa spent nearly $20,000. But then came time for the City Council to vote for her license. To her shock, when the City Council met it was not concerned with how to welcome a new business, but instead focused on protecting other businesses from competition.

Their language was anything but subtle.

One member said that it was “not fair” that an existing salon would “have to compete” with Awa. The Council even said that Awa should forget the thousands of dollars she invested, start over, and find a new location where she wouldn’t be “competing with anyone.” The Council rejected her permit—not because her shop was unsafe or failed to meet any regulations, but rather to stifle competition from other politically favored businesses.

This blanket economic protectionism is unconstitutional. The South Fulton City Council cannot shut out new businesses just to protect existing ones from competition. The Georgia Supreme Court said so just last year in another IJ case involving lactation consultants.

Every American has the right to use their property to earn a living without arbitrary government interference. The government cannot pick and choose who gets to pursue the American Dream.[+] Show More

Judge Says Attorney Can No Longer Tweet

Way back in July 2022, a federal court in Nashville imposed a gag ...

FBI SWAT Raids the Wrong House. Terrorizes Family.

Before the sun came up one morning, Trina Martin, her son Gabe, and ...

Before the sun came up one morning, Trina Martin, her son Gabe, and her boyfriend Toi Cliatt were startled awake in their home by the sound of a flashbang grenade ...exploding in the Martin home. Trina’s instinct was to run to her 7-year-old’s bedroom, but Toi, fearing for her life, grabbed her and pulled her to their walk-in closet. As Toi was reaching for a shotgun to protect his home, an FBI agent opened the door and snatched Toi. Toi was handcuffed and thrown onto the floor.

https://ij.org/?post_type=case&p=245246

Agents angrily shouted questions at Toi, but when he told them his address, the room went silent. The SWAT team realized they were in the wrong house. Agents quickly left and raided the target house. After that, an agent returned, apologized, and left a business card for his supervisor.

But the FBI provided no help to Trina, Gabe, and Toi as they struggled to live, work, and go to school with the trauma of the raid hanging over them. So, Trina, Gabe, and Toi filed a lawsuit against the government under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA). Congress passed the FTCA 80 years ago to provide everyday Americans with a remedy for harms caused by federal employees. Congress extended the FTCA further in 1974 to ensure that it covered mistaken federal police raids like the one committed against Trina, Gabe, and Toi.

But in the decades since, the courts have made a muddled mess out of what should be a straight-forward law. Whether the FTCA actually provides the remedy Congress intended depends not on the language of the statute but on where in the country the language is being read. Unfortunately for Trina, Gabe, and Toi, the interpretation came from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which applies broad immunities to the FTCA.

Here, because the court inexplicably concluded that FBI agents have the “discretionary authority” to raid the wrong house, sovereign immunity barred the claims. According to the court, Trina, Gabe, and Toi had no remedy for the raid because the almost-deadly mistakes that led the FBI to kick in an innocent family’s door were arguably characterized as a “policy decision.”

Now, the Institute for Justice (IJ) is asking the Supreme Court to hear Trina, Gabe, and Toi’s case. IJ insists that the courts respect Congress’s decision to provide a remedy for federal harms. The courts cannot create immunity where Congress has waived it.[+] Show More

Videos

DEA Caught Red-Handed, Airport Searches Grounded

Stay Informed

Wait