Beyond the Brief

For centuries, people have helped their neighbors by providing food, shelter, and more to people in need. But all too often, the creativity and generosity of ordinary people conflicts with government regulations. That’s why IJ defends those providing private solutions to public problems. I’m Kim Norberg of the nonprofit civil liberties law firm the Institute for Justice, with IJ senior attor...

In Pasco County, Florida, the Sheriff’s Office thought it had a great idea: make lists of who might commit crimes in the future and hound them and their families until they end up in jail or move away. Under Pasco’s so-called intelligence-led policing program, hundreds of people, many of them minors, were deemed “prolific offenders” based on a crude algorithm and subjected to relentless night-time...

In 2005, the U.S. Supreme Court issued one of its most reviled decisions in modern history, in Kelo v. City of New London. By a vote of 5-4, the Court said governments could use eminent domain to take private property and give it to private developers who might pay more in taxes. As Justice Sandra Day O’Connor said in her dissent, “The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to...

We all want to feel secure in our homes, and if the reckless or abusive acts of government officials violate that security, we expect to be able to hold them accountable. IJ recently launched two cases in Georgia to uphold that principle; one in which a town bulldozed a home without warning or compensation and another where FBI agents violently raided the wrong house.  Today we are joined by...

On Christmas Eve 2022, Jennifer Heath Box got off a cruise ship in Florida, excited to return home to Texas and spend Christmas with her children before her son was deployed. Instead, police arrested her as she got off the ship, and she spent Christmas in jail, where guards pumped death metal music and freezing air into the cells.  All because police were looking for a woman who didn’t look l...

Not long ago, if police wanted to know where someone drove, they would have to follow that person for days, taking significant resources. But new technology allows the government to track everyone nearly all the time and to access that information without a warrant. As this technology spreads around the country, people are fighting back for the Fourth Amendment.   Today we have with us IJ att...

In Pennsylvania, officers of the Fish and Boat Commission have the power to trespass on any land or water without a warrant. For one couple, that lead to repeated harassment at their lakeside home from a Waterways Conservation Officer. But the Constitution’s Fourth Amendment protects all Americans, including Pennsylvanians who live near water. Today we’re talking with IJ attorneys Kirby Thomas Wes...

The proliferation of video is changing how Americans fight for their civil rights, and much of it is happening right here on YouTube. I’m Kim Norberg of the nonprofit civil liberties law firm the Institute for Justice, together with co-host Keith Neely and IJ senior attorney Patrick Jaicomo. Today, we’re talking with special guest John Bryan, better known as The Civil Rights Lawyer. John kno...

In 2013, a Clovis, California police officer found out that his girlfriend Desiree Martinez had reported him for physically abusing her—while Desiree was trapped in a room with him, leading to further horrific abuse. Incredibly, the informant was another officer who knew about Desiree’s boyfriend’s history of domestic violence. Desiree later sued that officer informant for enabling the abuse, but...

In America, the government doesn’t get to pick winners and losers in the marketplace. Yet states and cities throughout the country block new business to protect established interests. That’s when IJ steps in. Awa Diagne has been braiding hair for 30 years, but when she tried to open a braiding salon in an Atlanta suburb, the town told her it would provide too much competition. So, Awa and IJ are f...

Can the government take your land just because they don’t like you? That’s happening to Brinkmann’s Hardware, a beloved local store in Long Island. After a lengthy fight, the town of Southhold, NY is now trying to take their land away through eminent domain—all to protect another business from competition. Today we talk with Hank Brinkmann and IJ Senior Attorney Jeff Redfern about how Brinkmann’s...

The film Rebel Ridge came September 6 and shot to #1 on Netflix. It depicts a former Marine’s attempts to get his money back after it was taken by police through civil forfeiture. That story sounded pretty familiar to us at IJ.   We have been working to dismantle civil forfeiture for decades, but unlike the film’s main character, our clients aren’t vigilantes who take the law into their own h...

It’s legal to travel domestically with any amount of cash. It’s legal to travel in and out of the U.S. with more than $10k if you declare it. But that doesn’t stop law enforcement from searching travelers’ property and seizing any cash they find without warrants or evidence of a crime. Today we talk with IJ attorneys Jaba Tsitsuashvili and Ben Field about how the government treats carrying cash li...

On a typical day, police officers pull over more than 50,000 drivers. If you’ve had a recent encounter with police, chances are good it was during a traffic stop. Traffic stops can lead to searches, arrests, and worse, yet they seldom involve a [search] warrant. So how did vehicles become Fourth-Amendment-free zones?  Today we are joined by Josh Windham, the leader of IJ’s Project on the Four...

The freedom of speech protected by the First Amendment is a foundational and cherished right that sets America apart from other constitutional democracies.    Many people think of the First Amendment in the context of controversial speech on highly politicized issues. But did you know that some of the most important free speech cases today involve uncontroversial speech on issues that ma...

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 de...

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 nig...

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 h...

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 th...

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....

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...

What can Americans do if the government retaliates against them for speaking out? Today we’re going to discuss real world examples of governments retaliating against citizens for speech they don’t approve of. We are joined by IJ Attorneys Kirby Thomas West and Ben Field. https://youtu.be/Yhji-Uyn23Y

Does qualified immunity actually accomplish what the Supreme Court intended? Kim Norberg and co-host Keith Neely discuss qualified immunity and how it plays out in the real world. IJ Senior Attorney Bob McNamara and data scientist Jason Tiezzi join to discuss Unaccountable, IJ’s new report that examines qualified immunity by the numbers. The report uses the largest ever collection of federal appel...

Unbeknownst to parents, a portion of their baby’s blood remained unused after a standard screening was complete. And New Jersey had unilaterally decided that it could keep that blood for 23 years. Even worse, New Jersey, along with other states, believed it could use that blood however it saw fit, whether that be selling it to third parties, giving it to law enforcement, or even turning it over to...

Deep Dive is now becoming Beyond the Brief.  We will still bring you the same great IJ-related content as before, but now in a studio setting.  Stay tuned.