institute for justice

Pennsylvania Poaching Police Warrantlessly Installed Camera on Private Land To Surveil Hunting Club Evidence turned over in a lawsuit shows that wildlife officers set up a trail camera at a private club to surveil hunters who may be breaking state laws. 28 July 2022 Police can increasingly...

Prosecutors Who Want Credit for Investigating Police Corruption Are Happy To Steal Money From Innocent People The Harris County, Texas, District Attorney's Office oversees civil forfeitures that make a mockery of justice. 4 August 2022 On October 27, 2016, the same day that Houston drug cops...

To Promote Public Safety, Michigan Authorizes Cops To Rob Travelers at Airports The change represents a substantial reversal of civil forfeiture reforms aimed at protecting innocent property owners. 2 June 2022 Graham Filler, a state legislator in Michigan, describes two recently enacted...

Won't fly, this is no different than the Los Angeles ordinance mandating warrantless access to hotel/motel registration records, which the U.S. Supreme Court ruled unconstitutional: The Supreme Court has struck down a Los Angeles ordinance that permits the police to check guest registries at...

For 20 Years, This Prosecutor Had a Secret Job Working For the Judges Who'd Decide His Cases One of Ralph Petty's victims is trying to hold him accountable, but she will have to overcome prosecutorial immunity. 12 April 2022 Ralph Petty worked as an assistant district attorney in Midland...

The Supreme Court Says You Can Sue Cops Who Frame You on False Charges The previous standard barring such lawsuits made “little sense," wrote Justice Brett Kavanaugh for the majority. 5 April 2022 Police officers could frame people, file bogus charges, conjure evidence out of thin air—and, in...

The 5th Circuit Approves a Cop's Violent Response to a Dispute Over a 7-Year-Old's Littering The officer used a "pain compliance maneuver" to force information from the boy's sister, who was recording the encounter. 25 March 2022 A 2016 dispute between neighbors that began when a 7-year-old...

The 5th Circuit Approves a Cop's Violent Response to a Dispute Over a 7-Year-Old's Littering The officer used a "pain compliance maneuver" to force information from the boy's sister, who was recording the encounter. 25 March 2022 A 2016 dispute between neighbors that began when a 7-year-old...

Police Seized Almost $10,000 From Him. A Court Ruled He Had No Right to an Attorney. Terry Abbott couldn't afford representation, because the state took the cash he'd use to pay for it. 1 April 2022 In April 2015, police in Indiana seized almost $10,000 from Terry Abbott after he was arrested...

Cops Seized $8,000 From Her and Never Charged Her With a Crime After Rochester police took her cash, Cristal Starling found out just how hard it is to challenge civil asset forfeiture in court. 7 April 2022 Police in Rochester, New York, seized $8,040 from Cristal Starling during a raid on...

Snitches Get Riches From the FBI Turning in your innocent friends and neighbors for having large amounts of cash is touted as a new source of income by the FBI. 16 March 2022 Snitches have a new way to make money in Charlotte, North Carolina. By texting the FBI and tattling on people that...

Prosecutor Extorts $300,000 Out of Alleged Drug Dealer by Threatening His Entire Family With Charges Patrick Card's story is a case study in how the state uses civil forfeiture to try to coerce plea bargains. 4 March 2022 A prosecutor is injecting new life into the idea that you can buy your...

The FBI Seized Almost $1 Million From This Family—and Never Charged Them With a Crime "It's completely changed my belief in fairness," says Amy Sterner Nelson. 18 February 2022 Carl Nelson and Amy Sterner Nelson's pre-pandemic lives look a lot different than the ones they live now. There are...

New York Restricts Free Legal Advice. Now It Faces a First Amendment Lawsuit A pastor and a nonprofit challenge occupational licensing rules. 31 January 2022 A pastor and a nonprofit are suing the state of New York, demanding the state recognize their First Amendment right to give free advice...

Family Kicked Off Their Own Property, Fined for Living Sustainably As Politicians Ignore Them 6 February 2022 There is no question that 2020 was one of the most difficult years in American history. As the government shut down the economy, driving unemployment to record levels and forcing...

Kansas and California Cops Used Civil Forfeiture to Stage Armored Car Heists, Stealing Money Earned by Licensed Marijuana Businesses The Institute for Justice argues that the seizures violated state law, federal law, and the U.S. Constitution. 18 January 2022 Because the continued federal...

A Tiny Alabama Town Is Growing Its Police Force by Fining Everybody in Sight Brookside officers have been accused of fabricating violations and are being sued. 19 January 2022 Brookside, Alabama, has a population of less than 1,500 people. For most of the past decade it saw little crime—only...

Texas sheriff under investigation for routinely seizing cash from undocumented immigrants Search warrants show that Real County Sheriff Nathan Johnson is under scrutiny by state investigators, accused of illegally confiscating cash and a pickup truck from immigrants stopped by his deputies. 10...

New California Law Makes It Easier To Sue Cops Who Violate Civil Rights 4 October 2021 California Gov. Gavin Newsom on Thursday signed a bill (SB 2) that will eliminate several legal immunities that shield law enforcement from civil rights lawsuits, a move that will make it easier for victims...

At this point Quality Immunity prevails. Hopefully the U.S. Supreme Court will hear the appeal and side with the victims. Some cops are just too dense & stupid to be trusted with guns and badges. Cops Held Two Innocent Boys at Gunpoint, Forced Them to Lie on the Ground, Handcuffed Them, and...