Police in Stamford, Connecticut violated the First Amendment when they arrested and jailed Michael Friend for holding a sign that read “Cops Ahead.” The First Amendment does not “permit the government...
Tag: institute for justice
Court Rejects Immunity For Police Who Held 83-Year-Old Grandmother At Gunpoint
An 83-year-old woman who was held at gunpoint and handcuffed after her car was wrongly reported as stolen can sue the officers responsible, the Ninth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals ruled earlier this m...
Supreme Court Lets Police Get Away With Jailing Man Who Made Fun Of Them On Facebook
Without any dissent, the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday refused to hear an appeal from Anthony Novak, who was jailed for four days and charged with a felony for making a parody Facebook page of his loc...
Supreme Court To Decide If IRS Can Secretly Access Bank Records
Fresh off a new injection of $45 billion to ramp up its enforcement efforts, the IRS is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to allow its agents to secretly obtain financial records, without ever notifyi...
Supreme Court Urged To Enforce The Thirteenth Amendment’s Ban On Involuntary Servitude
In a rare legal filing, a group of Filipino nurses is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to enforce the Thirteenth Amendment, which famously abolished slavery and involuntary servitude. Simply for quit...
Supreme Court Lets The IRS Evade The Eighth Amendment, Only Gorsuch Dissents
The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday declined to hear the case of Monica Toth, an 82-year-old grandmother who was fined over $2 million by the IRS for failing to file a one-page form. Represented by the I...
Supreme Court To Decide If “Home Equity Theft” Is Unconstitutional
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of Geraldine Tyler, a 94-year-old widow who had her entire home’s equity confiscated after she failed to pay $2,300 in property taxes. Although the case ...
Nevada Supreme Court Upholds The Right To Sue The Government, Blocks Qualified Immunity
In a landmark decision late last month, the Nevada Supreme Court unanimously ruled that victims of wrongful searches and seizures have the right to sue the responsible government officials. Just as cr...
Babylon Bee Files Real Supreme Court Brief Defending The First Amendment Right To Make Fun Of Cops
Anthony Novak was thrown in jail and charged with a felony for mocking an Ohio police department with a parody Facebook page. Now represented by the Institute for Justice, Novak has filed a cert petit...
No Immunity For Prosecutor Accused Of Fabricating Evidence In Death Row Case
For the second time, a federal appeals court has denied prosecutorial immunity to a Louisiana district attorney accused of falsifying testimony that sent a man to death row. Created by the U.S. Suprem...
Eric André Sues Police For Racial Profiling, Seizing Cash At Atlanta Airport
Even though he’s not Martin Luther King, Eric André is now fighting to end a civil rights nightmare. After the comedian said he was racially profiled at Atlanta’s airport, André filed a federal lawsui...
Biden Administration Wants To Make It Easier To Seize Crypto Without Criminal Charges
Buried deep in a 61-page recent report by the U.S. Attorney General, the Biden Administration called for a dramatic expansion in the federal government’s ability to seize and keep cryptocurrency. If e...
Supreme Court Needs To Close Loophole That Lets New York Cops Seize Guns Without Warrants
Thanks to a little-known loophole, lower federal courts have regularly written the government a blank check to search homes and seize firearms from lawful gun owners without a warrant. One of those ow...
Cops Taking Property From The Innocent Is “Legitimate,” South Carolina Supreme Court Rules
In a major blow against government accountability, the South Carolina Supreme Court last week upheld the state’s civil forfeiture laws, which let police permanently confiscate cash, cars, and even hom...
With Just Five Words, Congress Can Rein In IRS And Other Federal Agents
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, the IRS will receive a staggering $45.6 billion to bolster “tax enforcement.” That means substantially more manpower for criminal prosecutions, civil judgments, and ...
Federal Court Upholds The Right To Carry Cash
The federal government can’t use “circumstantial evidence” to permanently confiscate nearly $70,000 in cash, a federal appeals court ruled on Wednesday. “While it may be dubious to drive around with a...
First Amendment Protects The Right To Film Cops, Federal Court Reaffirms
Filming police officers at work is a right guaranteed by the First Amendment, the Tenth Circuit U.S. Court of Appeals declared in a ruling on July 11. Not only is the decision a win for free speech, i...
Supreme Court Creates New Immunity For Cops Who Violate The Fifth Amendment
In a decision that undermines almost 60 years of precedent, the U.S. Supreme Court last month declared that police officers who don’t issue Miranda warnings before interrogations can’t be sued for vio...
New Michigan Law Lets Cops Seize Cash At Airports, No Crime Required
Although summer travel is heating up, anyone traveling with cash may want to think twice about flying in and out of Michigan. Late last month, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed two bills (HB 4631 and HB 46...
New Alabama Laws Target Speed Traps
To block some of the state’s worst speed traps, Alabama last month adopted legislation that limits how much revenue cities can generate from traffic tickets, joining a handful of states with similar c...
Utah Passes New Law To Prevent New Occupational Licenses
Amid growing labor shortages, barriers to entry cannot be ignored. And one of the biggest barriers today is occupational licensing, which affects around 1 in 4 American workers. To foster a more open ...
Arkansas Cop Who Threatened To Tase An Innocent Mom Faces New Legal Challenge
An Arkansas police officer who received legal immunity after holding two innocent boys at gunpoint and pulling a Taser on their mother when she tried to deescalate the situation now faces a new legal ...