Beyond the Brief Institue for Justice

As our listeners probably know, civil forfeiture is legal practice that lets the government take and keep your property by claiming it’s connected to a crime, without needing to convict anyone.  You can lose your property even when the government agrees you’re innocent. 







Recently, the Supreme Court decided an important forfeiture case. While the outcome was disappointing, the way they decided it gives us hope that the high court is finally ready to rein in this form of theft-by-government. 







Today we chat with IJ attorneys Dan Alban and Kirby Thomas-West to discuss Culley v. Marshall and what it means for the fight against civil forfeiture.









https://youtu.be/TJtmmtRbrhs

















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Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year.









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Imagine a SWAT team raids a house—battering doors, breaking windows, and coating everything inside with tear gas residue.  Now imagine the SWAT team had the wrong address. Who do think would pay for the damage?  If you said insurance, you’re probably wrong. If you said the city, you’re probably also wrong. 







Today, IJ attorneys Jeff Redfern and Dylan Moore talk with us about this nightmare situation facing homeowners across America – and how the Institute for Justice is fighting to change it.









https://youtu.be/peWkkpsvndY

















Become a Monthly Donor







Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year.









donate monthly

In March 2021, people entered a private security-deposit box company in Beverly Hills, CA, broke open hundreds of boxes, and indiscriminately seized their contents – collectively worth over one hundred million dollars. Box holders lost their life savings, family heirlooms, important documents, and more.  But the people who took their property weren’t mobsters; they were FBI agents.







Today we have with us IJ attorneys Bob Belden and Mike Greenberg.  They’re going to share with us the story of an unprecedented FBI raid – and how the Institute for Justice is making sure it never happens again. 









https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FVcE3IzK4TA

















related case













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31XBx_AbmqM

































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We like to think of America as a land of opportunity and second chances. But what happens when a web of government restrictions prevents someone from earning an honest living due to past mistakes?  Today we’re talking with IJ Attorney Andrew Ward, and Rudy Carey, a substance abuse counselor and former IJ client.  We discuss so-called “permanent punishment” laws, the millions of people they affect, and how IJ is helping Americans get the fresh starts they deserve.  









https://youtu.be/yfApc87-eSg

















Related Case Videos













https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiHMg2xBQUk















https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVi1beANBBQ

If a federal official violates your rights, is it impossible to hold them accountable?  In this episode, we talk with IJ senior attorneys Anya Bidwell and Patrick Jaicomo, leaders of IJ’s Project on Immunity and Accountability.  We discuss some outrageous cases of abuse by federal officials, why it’s so hard to sue the Feds, and what IJ is doing to clear a path to justice.

















https://youtu.be/teOXBgd3yCo?si=QBFZD6mrk-pAd2C-

Your home is supposed to be your castle. But what about the land your castle sits on?  We discuss why it is that most private land in America gets no protection from warrantless government surveillance. We are joined by IJ attorney and co-director of IJ’s Project on the Fourth Amendment, Josh Windham.









https://youtu.be/jN-VEE7fAEs













related report























Good Fences? Good Luck







Released in the Cato Institute’s Regulation magazine, IJ’s study “Good Fences? Good Luck” is the first study to put a number on the amount of private property vulnerable to warrantless searches by federal agents thanks to a legal precedent known as the “open fields doctrine.” It finds that nearly 96% of all private land in the country—about 1.2 billion acres—is essentially open to federal government trespass. 









read report