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Institute for Justice updates
Immunity & Accountability
Supreme Court Will Hear Case From Victims Of FBI Wrong-House Raid
The U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of an Atlanta family harmed by a mistaken FBI SWAT raid on their home. Despite the trauma inflicted on the innocent family, the government refused to compensate Trina Martin, her son Gabe, and her partner Toi Cliatt. Now, the Court will reconsider whether the family can sue under a law intended to hold federal officials accountable.
Can the government dictate how you decorate for the holidays? Germantown, Tennessee, thinks so. Germantown officials issued a resident a court summons because she incorporated a skeleton and skeleton dog into her Christmas yard display. IJ is calling on the city to stop their enforcement of an unconstitutional ordinance.
Katherin Youniacutt and Tammy Thompson overcame substance addiction over a decade ago and went back to school, earning master’s degrees in social work. They turned their lives around and want to help others do the same. But Texas won’t let Katherin or Tammy help. IJ is fighting to change that.
Bound By Oath: Everything You Eat, Drink, and Wear (S3, Ep11)
Government officials must obtain a warrant before forcibly entering a home. That rule goes back to the Founding. But in a series of cases, culminating in Camara v. San Francisco in 1967, the Supreme Court announced an ahistorical exception. On this episode, we hear from the lawyer who argued Camara.
Beyond The Brief: The Government Can GIVE Your Home to Developers
In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of its most reviled decisions in modern history, in Kelo v. City of New London. By a vote of 5-4, the Court said governments could use eminent domain to take private property and give it to private developers who might pay more in taxes. Now, IJ has submitted a petition asking the Supreme Court to overturn that infamous decision.
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