Early next year, IJ will bring a simple message to the U.S. Supreme Court: You break it, you buy it. It’s a rule that’s written into the Constitution, which says if the government takes private property for a public use, it must pay just compensation. But when Texas flooded Richie DeVillier's ranch, an appeals court said it didn't have to follow that part of the Constitution. So, we're heading to the high court to right this wrong.
After Gold Coins Go Missing, IJ Goes Looking for FBI Accountability
Keeping your stuff safe from criminals doesn’t mean it’s safe from the government. After the FBI raided a private security box company and broke into hundreds of boxes belonging to innocent people, it lost some the property it seized, including 63 coins worth over $100,000. Their owner is fighting back with IJ.
Small Businesses Sue St. Louis Suburb to Save Their Locations
Brentwood, Missouri, has big plans to replace longstanding businesses with new development. But some business owners don't want to go anywhere. To force them out using a loophole in eminent domain, the city declared thriving businesses blighted. Now they're fighting back with IJ.
Shared Kitchen Cooks Up Big Win at IJ’s South Side Pitch
From a shared commercial kitchen in a struggling neighborhood to an educational board game about police encounters, the winners of IJ's 10th annual South Side Pitch have created some truly impressive businesses.
Last week, IJ argued at the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in our class action lawsuit against the FBI on behalf of US Private Vaults security deposit box renters, after the agency seized the property of hundreds of innocent people. The panel of judges seemed highly skeptical of the government’s behavior. Click to watch a hearing that seems to go as well as it possibly could.
IJ Podcasts
Bound By Oath: Mr. Thornton's Woods
IJ's in-depth history podcast returns with season three! In 1984, the Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition on warrantless searches doesn't apply to "open fields." We talk to Richard and Linda Thornton, whose property in rural Maine was at the center of the case. And we ask: Can the Founders really have thought the Constitution did not protect woods, fields, farms, and more from warrantless invasions?
Braden Boucek, Director of Litigation at the Southeastern Legal Foundation, discusses an Eighth Circuit case challenging a school district’s transgender policy.
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.
