Beyond the Brief
Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing IJ’s fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Beyond the Brief explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. Each episode gives listeners an in-depth, inside look at how—and why—we do what we do.
Episodes
If police destroyed your home while chasing a fugitive, would the government pay for the damage? All too often, the answer is no. A first-of-its-kind national study from the Institute for Justice set out to answer how often people ask for compensation when law enforcement damages their property, and how often the government says no.
I’m Kim ...
Millions of Americans face serious legal problems every year without a lawyer—often because the legal system has made help too expensive and too hard to find. As a result, they face the legal system on their own or give up entirely, often missing important rights or obligations they didn’t know they had. IJ’s new initiative, Counsel Unbound, is changing that by breaking the lawyer car...
Teaching kids to swim in a backyard pool is an American tradition, but one South Carolina city has now banned backyard swim lessons. Libby Souder taught one-on-one swim lessons for a few hours a day until a neighbor complained—before he even moved in.
Today we talk with IJ attorneys Renée Flaherty and Robert Fellner to discuss how cities make harmless home busi...
We are headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court with three cases in the next term. Today, we’re discussing two of those cases, which could have major implications for private property, agency power, and individual rights. One case asks whether property owners can be forced to pay huge legal bills just to get fair compensation when their land is taken. The other asks whether the government can drag A...
Stealing small businesses’ bank accounts and spying on people using cash. It’s the IRS and other agencies run amok.
Today we’re talking with IJ senior attorneys Dan Alban and Rob Johnson about how the IRS used “structuring” laws to take money from people who did nothing wrong. We’ll also cover IJ’s fight against new rules tha...
Mike DiGiacomo and his siblings turned the basement of their father’s old barbershop building into a barber-themed speakeasy. But their attempt to honor their father became a legal battle when Nebraska’s Barber Board told them to change the name or possibly go to jail.
Today we’re talking with IJ deputy litigation director Robert McNamara and IJ att...
In America, police and prosecutors can take your cash, your car, or even your home through a legal process called civil forfeiture—without convicting or even charging you with a crime. When they do, victims face a maze of short deadlines, complicated paperwork, and a system built so that the government often wins by default.
The Institute for Justice leads the ...
When an Arizona educator named “Fernie” Madrid ran for Apache County School Superintendent he had no idea it would lead to stalking, anonymous threatening letters, and even getting assaulted while canvassing. And he was shocked that the person responsible for the harassment was the county attorney.
Today we’re joined by IJ attorneys Ben Field and Mc...
Candi Mentink and Todd Collard sell personalized caskets to honor the deceased person’s unique life. They can ship these caskets almost anywhere in the world, but they can’t sell them to people in their own state of Oklahoma. That’s because Todd and Candi are up against one of the strongest economic cartels in America: the funeral industry.
Today we...
What happens when the government tries to take well-kept homes and businesses by slapping them with a “blight” label that doesn’t fit? Perth Amboy, New Jersey, tried to do just that—but a court vacated the blight designation, blocking the city from taking those properties for private development.
Today we talk with IJ attorneys Robert McNamara...
In Florida, if a town doesn’t like what you do with your lawn, you could face bankruptcy. Sandy Martinez is stuck with $165,000 in fines for completely harmless code violations, most of it for occasionally parking a car a little bit over her driveway and onto the grass. Jim Ficken faced foreclosure of his home because his grass grew too long while he was out of town.
New York City is in a housing crisis—and according to official statistics, roughly 26,000 rent stabilized apartments sit vacant. That’s because New York City law makes many units unprofitable to rent. Today, we’re talking about IJ’s new federal challenge focused on vacant units—not occupied apartments—and what it could mean for property rights and renters.
What can we do to bring accountability to policing for the sake of both the public and police officers themselves? Today, we’re talking with special guest Jeff Wenniger, a retired LAPD Lieutenant who spent more than 30 years in law enforcement and is now an advocate for how to rethink law enforcement—grounded in trust, integrity, and true community partnership.
IJ just scored a win at a Pennsylvania appeals court that puts renters’ privacy rights on the same level as owners’ for the first time anywhere in the country. It was a wild ride featuring a violated court order, a stake out of a judge’s car, and obstruction designed to keep the inspection program a secret. It is also part of decades-long campaign to overturn the U.S. Supreme Court pr...
Leo Garcia Venegas and George Retes were simply trying to work, when they got ensnared by dragnet federal immigration raids. Even though both men identified themselves as U.S. citizens, multiple agents aggressively detained them—in Leo’s case two separate times and in George’s case for three days. Now, as more citizens get swept up in these raids, Leo and George are standing up for th...
Brian Moore and Cristal Starling both lost their money to civil forfeiture, despite neither being charged with a crime. Both of them challenged those forfeitures and both of them got their money back. But only one is being made whole. We’re here with IJ senior attorneys Dan Alban and Paul Sherman to discuss two cases under the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act—a law that’s supposed to...
When Khalilah Few wanted to expand her natural hair salon business, she found a long-empty store front in Clayton County, Georgia, and spent her life savings renovating it. But she soon discovered that Clayton County singles out hair salons and barbershops for special restrictions. Because there are three other salons within several miles, the county told Khaliah she couldn’t open.
<...When you get in your car, you might be tracked by a network of AI-powered surveillance cameras. These cameras upload their information to a central database, where government officials around the country can see a detailed record of your movements.
But we’re fighting back against mass surveillance. Today we’re joined by IJ attorney Michael Soyfer and Comm...
When the government, or even a private company, takes your land using eminent domain, the law promises you just compensation. But what about the thousands of dollars you spent on legal fees fighting for your fair share? For a group of North Dakotans facing off against a natural gas company, the answer could be: Tough luck.
Today we’re joined by IJ Deputy Litiga...
Can the government take a $95,000 plane because a passenger used it to transport a six pack of Budweiser? The Alaska Supreme Court says yes but the U.S. Constitution says no.
Today we chat with IJ attorneys Sam Gedge and Kirby West to discuss an outrageous new case from the Last Frontier and how forfeiture interacts with excessive fines, free speech, and more.
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