Plus new video on town blocking braiding salon. | View in browser
Institute for Justice updates
Fourth Amendment
IJ Challenges Virginia City's Warrantless Surveillance Of Entire Driving Public
In 2023, Norfolk, Virginia, installed over 172 cameras around town. These are not your standard traffic cameras. The cameras are strategically placed to capture everybody’s daily travel. The cameras snap photos of every car as they drive by and upload them into a database. Officials can then use this database to go back in time and create maps of where people have been, where they tend to drive, and even who they tend to meet up with. All of this happens without a warrant or even probable cause. But the Fourth Amendment doesn’t allow the government to set up a surveillance state. Two Norfolk residents are fighting back with help from IJ.
Supreme Court Rejects Eminent Domain Case on Behalf of New York Hardware Store Owners
The U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition to hear the case of Ben and Hank Brinkmann, brothers who own a family-run chain of hardware stores in Long Island, New York. The question put before the Court by the petition: When every legal effort to stop someone from using their property has failed, can the government simply take the land using eminent domain? The case, Brinkmann, et al. v. Town of Southold, New York, would have had potentially wide-ranging ramifications for how and when the government can take and use property. Justices Thomas, Gorsuch, and Kavanaugh had voted to accept the case, and they took the unusual step of recording their votes publicly. It takes four votes, however, to grant a petition.
Protecting Liberty Nationwide Through Legislative Reform
At IJ, we are in courts across the country fighting for people’s rights. But litigation isn’t the only way we fulfill our mission. We are also at state houses and in front of Congress advocating for legislative reform. This year, IJ supported more than 160 bills in 40 jurisdictions. These bills expanded economic liberty, protected property rights, and advanced educational choice. And what makes IJ’s legislative efforts unique is that, unlike that of so many others walking the halls of legislatures, all of our work in this domain is about expanding freedom and tearing down barriers to opportunity.
Beyond the Brief: Officer Caught Snitching on Domestic Abuse Victim
In 2013, a California police officer found out that his girlfriend had reported him for physically abusing her. Incredibly, the informant was another officer. Now, IJ is asking the U.S. Supreme Court to make clear that government officials who knowingly place people in danger can be held accountable.
With less than a week before America’s general election, it’s time for our biennial dive into election law! A whirlwind tour of election decisions from the federal courts of appeals with a wide-ranging look at the legal disputes that arise before (and while) Americans cast their ballots.
Your tax-deductible contribution helps IJ fight for Americans’ rights. IJ defends ordinary people who want to pursue their vision of the American Dream but find that the government is standing in their way. We stand with our clients no matter how long their cases take and we win nearly 75% of the time.
