Plus hear client describe harrowing wrong house raid on latest podcast. | View in browser
Institute for Justice updates
Fourth Amendment
Federal Court Temporarily Halts Ruinous Financial Surveillance For Southern California Money Services Businesses
A San Diego federal court put a temporary halt to a financial surveillance rule that threatened Esperanza Gomez’s small business and intruded on the financial privacy of her customers. The order covers all Southern California businesses targeted by the surveillance. Esperanza teamed up with IJ to sue the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network over its order requiring certain businesses in 30 targeted ZIP codes to report all cash transactions above $200. The normal reporting requirement is for cash transactions over $10,000.
Previously Confidential Documents Show Town Retaliated Against IJ Clients For Speaking To Media
Newly released documents in IJ's lawsuit on behalf of small business owners Theslet Benoir and Clemene Bastien, who opened a Virginia town's first food truck. In the documents—which were released after town officials mistakenly waived attorney-client privilege—they admit that the only reason Theslet and Clemene’s food truck is not currently open is because the town was upset that the couple spoke with media. The town attorney also admits in the documents that the town’s old food truck ban was “unconstitutional.”
First-Round Victory In Challenge To Florida's Protectionist Ban On Cultivated Meat
IJ client UPSIDE Foods received an important first-round victory in its challenge to Florida’s first-in-the-nation ban on cultivated meat. A district court denied an attempt by the government to dismiss UPSIDE’s lawsuit, meaning that the case will continue moving forward in the trial court. Innovative start-up UPSIDE cultivates meat from animal cells for people who want to eat meat but are concerned about the ethics of slaughtering animals. That may not be everyone's cup of tea, but Florida's powerful cattle industry doesn't want anyone to have this option. Protecting in-state agricultural interests from innovative out-of-state competition is not a legitimate use of government power, so IJ launched this case to defend competition, innovation, and consumer choice.
We explore the Federal Tort Claims Act (the law at issue in our Martin case), which was originally enacted in 1946 and then amended in 1974 to create a remedy for wrongful acts by government officials. We feature guests who worked on getting the 1974 amendment, called the law-enforcement proviso, passed into law.
Short Circuit went mile high for a live show before the students at Sturm College of Law at the University of Denver. The focus was qualified immunity. That’s because Colorado led the way with qualified immunity reform a few years ago.
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