John:

I wanted to share some good news this Friday afternoon. Today, the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals reinstated our case against the Shelby County Environmental Court, a Kafkaesque housing code court in Tennessee. 

Unlike regular courts, the Environmental Court doesn’t swear in witnesses, authenticate evidence, or record its proceedings, so defendants have no record with which to appeal. Yet it has the power to destroy people’s lives. 

In 2009, a tree fell on the home of IJ client Sarah Hohenberg. While she tried to get insurance to pay for repairs to her roof, she was sued in the Environmental Court. The years of proceedings left her bankrupt and homeless. A similar thing happened to IJ client Joseph Hanson: A tree falling on his house led to the Environmental Court bulldozing his home and imprisoning him multiple times because he missed a “hearing” he was never notified about. 

Click to watch our video on Sarah's case

The Constitution forbids courts from depriving people of their property and liberty without meaningful procedural protections. Sarah and Joseph teamed up with IJ to fight back, but a district court dismissed the case. Today’s ruling means IJ and our clients can continue to fight for their rights. 

I invite you to join us and a community of IJ supporters who make this work possible.

Scott

Scott G. Bullock

President and Chief Counsel

Institute for Justice

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