Bob Ewing

This past weekend marked the two-year anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court’s ruling in Citizens United. Protesters, dubbed Occupy the Courts, gathered at the Court to voice their disapproval of the decision: [youtube FJxMmqTWcNE] As Institute for Justice campaign finance

Lisa Martinez was forced to shut down her businesses or face five years in prison. Her crime? Teeth whitening. This week, Lisa and others are fighting back in a big way: [youtube xy9k1Ujq0Tk&] In 2008, Lisa opened Connecticut White Smile

It’s just a piece of cotton thread. And yet, in order to use that simple piece of thread in Arizona for the popular practice of removing unwanted facial hair, the state’s Board of Cosmetology demanded that highly skilled entrepreneurs sit

What is the most important part of the 11th Circuit’s recent ruling on The Affordable Care Act? You might think it was the individual mandate being struck down. But it was actually this: Judicial engagement. For the first time in

When you think about a highly aggressive cartel teaming up with politicians to pass protectionist laws that kick entrepreneurs out of work, you probably don’t think about interior designers. But you should. [youtube C_4U3VehaW4&] The American Society of Interior Designers

When you think about a highly aggressive cartel teaming up with politicians to pass protectionist laws that kick entrepreneurs out of work, you probably don’t think about interior designers. But you should. [youtube C_4U3VehaW4&] The American Society of Interior Designers

Georgia has some of the worst civil forfeiture laws and practices in the country. This morning, five Atlanta citizens teamed up with the Institute for Justice to change that. Civil forfeiture threatens the property rights of all Americans. These laws

You really have to see this one to believe it: [youtube QMDnCcSUfao&] The video above was just released by the Institute for Justice. It begins with an elderly woman lamenting: When my son came back from Kuwait he couldn’t believe

In Michigan, police were caught on tape stealing private property: What do you want to take in the basement? Do you want to take the drums and all that (expletive), or no? The police took three pages worth of property

There’s a bad law on the books that is costing lives every single day. Cancer patients from around the country have teamed up with a world-famous doctor, a non-profit and the Institute for Justice in a major federal lawsuit against

Dale Smith has been cutting hair for over 50 years. The Oregon barber is well-known in his hometown for walk-in appointments and $8 cuts — at least, until he got shut down by bureaucrats from Oregon’s Board of Cosmetology. Dale’s

The Institute for Justice has been vindicating the rights of entrepreneurs for the last twenty years. Across the country, IJ has teamed up with casket makers, florists, hairbraiders, horse teeth-floaters, interior designers, sign-hangers, taxi-drivers, trash haulers, vintners and numerous other

What do you get when you mix bureaucrats with a bunch of adorable puppies? In Kim Houghton’s case, you get a major First Amendment lawsuit. [youtube eFm0jWM2-zg] Kim Houghton decided after a successful, 20-year career in advertising that she wanted

On Tuesday the Institute for Justice went to federal court to find out. [youtube vJ9IbZ05JrY] Two years ago IJ teamed up with three Philadelphia tour guides to file a major First Amendment lawsuit seeking to vindicate the freedom to speak

Carl Mitz is a third-generation horseman. The Texan is widely known as one of the nation’s best horse dentists. He’s treated the teeth of over 100,000 horses and has clients in over 30 states. But Texas bureaucrats tried for years

Karen Sampson and her Colorado neighbors just won a serious victory for liberty. In a unanimous decision on Tuesday, the 10th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals struck down Colorado’s disclosure laws for grassroots political groups. This is a big deal.

Let’s say you have a knack for cutting hair. If you live in Florida, guess how many hours of government-mandated instruction you’d be forced to sit through before you can become a barber? 1,200. That’s right, well over a thousand

Hey mom and dads, it’s election week! Does your child like to argue? Does he like to boss his younger siblings around? Does he love the sound of his own voice? If you answered “yes” to any of these questions,

Nationwide, government at every level is requiring more and more of the workforce to get its permission just to earn a living. In the 1950s, only about 5 percent of the workforce needed a government license to do their job.

Carla Main wrote an outstanding book called Bulldozed. A veteran journalist, she brought to life a heart-wrenching, true-life tale of eminent domain abuse in a Texas fishing town. She told the truth. And for that, she’s being sued. Today, Carla

In Washington, DC, talking about the Bill of Rights can land you in jail for 90 days. Our nation’s capital has a licensing scheme in place that makes it illegal for anyone to “guide or escort” anyone else for hire

55 years ago, Rosa Parks helped launch the modern civil rights movement. Today, the government is bulldozing her old neighborhood. Here’s the real kicker: The homeowners are forced to pay the cost of demolition. [youtube rct8IeklcGQ] Nobel prize-winning libertarian economist

On June 5, Andrew Coulson posted a disturbing graph at Big Government: He showed that public education costs are skyrocketing while student achievement remains flat. In another graph in the same post, he showed that the public school bureaucracy is

Abbot Justin Brown and his fellow monks are being threatened with crippling fines and even jail time. Their crime? Selling caskets. Today, they are fighting back in a big way. [youtube 7NxtGzsGtJc] In 1889, a group of monks from Indiana

Julie Murphy is only seven years old, but she embodies the classic American zeal for entrepreneurship. She learned about lemonade stands after seeing one in a cartoon. She got excited and wanted to open one of her own. And so

You’ve probably heard about eminent domain abuse. That’s where the government takes your land and hands it over to another private party….one that is more politically connected. But you may not have heard about civil forfeiture. And yet, today, it

Today the Institute for Justice filed opening briefs in our fourth case to appear before the U.S. Supreme Court. IJ’s first trip to the high court came in 2002 and resulted in a landmark victory for school choice. We also

If government is serious about job creation, it should get out of the way of the entrepreneurs who actually create them. That is the message of a new campaign launched this week by the Institute for Justice–the nation’s leading legal

There’s a new site to add to your blogroll: Congress Shall Make No Law. The site, which has the address makenolaw.org, empowers grassroots activists from around the country that are standing up and saying no to unconstitutional attacks on free

Should farmers get thrown in jail for 90 days and hit with $1,000 in fines for engaging in free trade? Unfortunately, that’s the law in Lake Elmo, Minnesota. And that is why the farmers are fighting back. Tuesday they rallied

The Little Pink House that changed America still stands strong. Five years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court issued what would soon become one of the most despised decisions in its history. In a controversial 5-4 opinion, the Court