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
Economic Liberty | Fresh Start
Texas Fresh Start Social Worker
Texas
Texas—and the country—face a two-fold problem: an exploding mental health and substance abuse crisis and a dire shortage of professional social workers to address those issues. Yet rather than make it easier for qualified applicants to obtain social work licenses and start helping people, Texas is doing the opposite. In 2019, the state passed a lifetime ban prohibiting anyone with…
4th Amendment Project | Private Property
Norfolk, VA Camera Surveillance
Norfolk, Virginia has installed more than 170 cameras across the city that watch drivers’ every movement. Now, two Norfolk-area residents have teamed up with the Institute for Justice to file a federal lawsuit challenging the…
Private Property | Private Solutions to Public Problems | Right to Shelter | Zoning Justice Project
Flathead Warming Center
The Flathead Warming Center—an emergency shelter in Kalispell, Montana—suffered a cruel blow as winter approaches. On September 16, 2024, the Kalispell City Council voted 6-3 to revoke the Warming Center’s permit, even though it has…
Private Property | SWAT Destruction
Martin v. United States
FBI agents raided the wrong home in suburban Atlanta. Now the federal government refuses to compensate the victims even though Congress passed a law permitting suits for damages caused by federal employees.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Utah Private Investigators
Jeremy Barnes is a former police officer who runs his own private investigator company in Idaho, near the Utah border. Utah has prevented Jeremy from earning an honest living because he lives three minutes across…
Nebraska CON
Marc is allowed to drive customers to the grocery store, but if he wants to drive them to the pharmacy or a routine doctor’s appointment, he needs permission from his competitors. This nonsensical rule hurts…
North Carolina CON II
The government should never prevent doctors from safely providing affordable health care services their patients need. But that’s exactly what North Carolina, along with 34 other states, do every day. Dr. Jay Singleton is working…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Private Solutions to Public Problems
Washington Little Free Pantry
Thanks to a lawsuit she filed with IJ, Kathy Hay can now share food with her neighbors in Asotin County, Washington, using a “little free pantry” in her backyard. Before the lawsuit, Kathy wasn’t allowed…
4th Amendment Project | Open Fields Doctrine | Other Property Rights Abuses | Private Property
Tennessee Open Fields
Tennessee Wildlife officials were caught putting cameras on Terry Rainwaters’ property, ignoring his “No Trespassing” signs. Terry and another rural Tennessee property owner are joining forces with IJ to fight back against the “open fields…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
North Dakota Food Freedom
Five North Dakotans teamed up with IJ to sue the Department of Health for illegally passing regulations on selling homemade baked goods. Now, North Dakota is again one of the best states in the country…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
King v. Brownback
Brownback v. King is IJ’s first Immunity and Accountability case that was argued before the United States Supreme Court. It involves James King, an innocent college student who was brutally beaten and choked unconscious by…
Educational Choice | Publicly Funded Scholarships
Tennessee School Choice
In 2019, Tennessee enacted an Education Savings Account that helped thousands of low-and-middle-income students receive a quality education. A year later, the mayor of Nashville announced a lawsuit attacking the program. A group of Tennessee…
4th Amendment Project | Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Detroit Civil Forfeiture
For decades, residents of Detroit and Wayne County, Michigan have lived under constant threat of having their cars taken away and ransomed back to them for $1,000 or more—that is, if the car is ever…
Immunity and Accountability | Private Property
West v. Winfield
If you tell police they can go into your home, does that mean they can also legally stand outside and pepper it with shotgun-fired tear gas grenades—destroying everything inside? That is the question asked by…
4th Amendment Project | Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
DEA and TSA Airport Forfeitures
Retired railroad engineer Terry Rolin’s life savings were seized by the government, but he hasn’t been charged with any crime. Now he and his daughter are working with IJ to get his money back and…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing
Arizona Engineering Licensing
Greg Mills has been an engineer for more than 30 years, but now a group of industry insiders on a government board are saying he needs a license he does not actually need. IJ and…