🚨 New Case Alert 🚨 Leo Garcia Venegas is an American citizen and construction worker in south Alabama. Even though he has done nothing suspicious and is working on private property, Leo has been repeatedly detained (once violently) by federal officers enforcing immigration laws. 🧵

Our Latest Podcast: Won't You Take Me To YIMBYTown? Recorded before a live audience at @yimbytown.bsky.social 2025! With @profschleich.bsky.social @andrewdfine.bsky.social & Ari Bargil of @ij.org! ij.org/podcasts/sho...

Army Vet Sues DEA to Return His $8500 (He Won!)

Victory in Freeport, Texas! Last week, the Texas 14th Court of Appeals rejected an attempt by the Port of Freeport to use #EminentDomain to seize land from a group of property owners in Freeport’s historically Black community. 🧵

Here’s a story that’s becoming all too common: federal immigration agents using racial and ethnic profiling as a rationale for stopping, questioning and detaining U.S. citizens who they suspect are undocumented.

VICTORY: Officers Denied #QualifiedImmunity for Arresting and Jailing Woman at Christmas 🧵

An unconstitutional Louisiana law creates a 25-foot "buffer zone" around any police activity—even if you're just filming. But the #1stAmendment protects the right of people to observe actions being taken by government officials without fear of prosecution. 🧵

U.S Marshals put Penny McCarthy through 2 days of hell because of their reckless investigation. Now Penny has teamed up with the IJ to hold the officers and the U.S. government accountable and to guard against this nightmare happening to someone else. More here: ij.org/case/arizona...

The latest episode of @ij.org's roundtable podcast, Unpublished Opinions, just dropped! John Wrench, Diana Simpson & Sam Gedge bicker over the Bluebook, dialogue about dictionaries, and scheme on strategy in public interest law. ij.org/podcasts/unp...

Our Latest Newsletter: Classroom commandments, the FBI’s Most Wanted, and a phone book artifice. ij.org/sc_newslette...

Houston police "failed to justify most searches" of their automatic license plate reader database. Without warrant requirements, police will continue to abuse this surveillance system. That's why @ij.org is ramping up our fight against ALPRs. www.houstonchronicle.com/projects/202...

Today marks the 20-year anniversary of Kelo v. City of New London—one of the most infamous #SupremeCourt decisions in modern history. 🧵

🎉Another @ij.org WIN at #SCOTUS🎉 Today, the court UNANIMOUSLY ruled our clients' lawsuit against the FBI over a wrong-house raid can move forward! ij.org/press-releas...

VICTORY!!! Supreme Court Sides with Family in Wrong House Raid Case In April, the Court heard argument in Martin v. United States. Today we won! ij.org/press-releas... #WrongHouseRaid #MartinVUS #SCOTUS #SupremeCourt

A moving new minidoc on the Kalispell shelter that @ij.org kept open for this last winter--and now, permanently. www.youtube.com/watch?v=81Xc...

Denver City Council recently voted to reject a contract to extend its automated license plate reader program. My @ij.org colleague Michael Soyfer and I have an op-ed in @coloradosun.com on how these cameras are ripe for abuse 🧵 coloradosun.com/2025/05/27/o...

This month on @ij.org's roundtable podcast the conversation flows from oral argument prep to amici to footnote overproduction to more. With @joshuawindham.bsky.social, John Wrench & Sam Gedge! ij.org/podcasts/unp...

Oral Argument starts now! Listen in here: www.supremecourt.gov/oral_argumen...

A SWAT team broke down an innocent family’s door. But when they tried to get justice, the court slammed its doors in their face. Tomorrow, we take this fight to #SCOTUS. 🏛️ Today, you can hear the full backstory from @apnews.com:

Argument is tomorrow, Tuesday, April 29, at 10 am. Check out IJ's listeners' guide for more information: ij.org/case/martin-... END

Tomorrow, IJ is going to the #SupremeCourt to fight for justice on behalf of a family that was subjected to a terrifying SWAT raid when the FBI agents raided the wrong house. Read our Listeners' Guide for valuable context ahead of tomorrow's argument. #WrongHouseRaid

10 things you should know about tomorrow's Supreme Court case, Martin v. United States. @ij.org is representing a family who suffered a wrong house raid at the hands of an FBI SWAT team.

BIG NEWS Last year, @ij.org sued the town of Parksley, VA for retaliating against business owners Clemene Bastien & Theslet Benoir for speaking out against the town's food truck ban. New docs, that the town mistakenly waived attorney-client privilege for, show EXACTLY how they retaliated 🧵

"Courts need to look at automatic license plate readers not just as individual cameras but as a surveillance apparatus that can track people’s movements and associations" Read @bloomberg.com's in-depth piece on ALPRs and @ij.org's lawsuit challenging their use: news.bloombergtax.com/white-collar...

In 2021, mechanic Oz Sepulveda sued the city of Pasadena over a law that required him to have 28 parking spots that wouldn't fit on his property. In 2022, the city settled & agreed to let him open without the parking spots. Today, they still haven't #LetOzOpen. Learn more: ij.org/case/texas-m...

Today, @ij.org filed a cert petition asking #SCOTUS to hear our First Amendment case challenging Mississippi's near total ban on advertising medical marijuana. If a product is legal, it should be legal to talk about that product. ij.org/press-releas...

👏👏👏 As of Friday, Utah will now require informed consent before storing newborn blood samples. 🧵

FBI Stormed Wrong House—Now SCOTUS to Weigh In

It's time for #SCOTUS to overturn the infamous Kelo v. New London decision which gutted Americans' property rights. Check out George Will's new @washingtonpost.com op-ed about IJ's #SupremeCourt petition to overturn this disastrous ruling. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

It's time to overturn the disastrous #SCOTUS decision in Kelo v. New London which gutted Americans' property rights. Check out George Will's column in @postopinions.bsky.social about @ij.org's new petition seeking to overturn Kelo. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Trial starts today! After several delays, IJ's #FirstAmendment case seeking to protect a New Hampshire bakery's donut mural from the town's unconstitutional sign code is going to trial.

Most everyone agrees that people suffering addiction need ready access to counseling. But we have a huge shortage of drug counselors. A big part of the bottleneck is state licensing requirements that both limit who can become a counselor and how they can offer counseling.

10 years ago today, Feb 13, 2015, @ij.org published our 1st Short Circuit newsletter. Thanks to all who have read @johnkennethross.bsky.social's weekly work since the beginning (the few the proud!) or have joined along the way. Here's a short 🧵down memory lane (this is our original webpage). 1/

You're invited to a FREE film screening of #FreedomHair! Join us Thursday in New Orleans to watch the film and hear from the amazing woman behind the movie, Melony Armstrong. Space is limited, get your free tickets now: iam.ij.org/FHNOLA

IJ is going back to #SCOTUS! This week, the U.S. Supreme Court agreed to hear the case of an Atlanta family that was harmed by a mistaken FBI SWAT raid on their home. #MartinVUnitedStates #WrongHouseRaid

Update on the grant of certiorari in @ij.org #WrongHouseRaid case, Martin v. U.S.: 1. #SCOTUS will likely be hear the case this term, between 4/28 and 4/30. 2. The Court has appointed an amicus to argue QP1 (below), since the gov't did not defend the 11th Cir.'s Supremacy Clause bar.

Today, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Craig Schwall said he was "very sympathetic" to @ij.org's clients after hearing oral arguments in our case seeking to save their land from a private railroad's attempt to use eminent domain. Now, we await the ruling. www.atlantanewsfirst.com/2025/01/28/g...

The #4thAmendment doesn’t allow the government to set up a surveillance state. If a city wants to track suspicious people, it can do what the police have always done: get a warrant.

WATCH: Here's the new @ij.org case video (starring @kinger-dc.bsky.social) explaining our lawsuit against the City of Norfolk's use of Flock Cameras to create an unconstitutional, digital panopticon. This system of cameras tracks every driver, wherever he goes. www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Mc3...

IJ attorneys are answering your questions on Reddit—join the conversation now!

In 30 minutes IJ Attorneys @pjaicomo.bsky.social and Dylan Moore will begin answering your questions on the r/SupremeCourt subreddit! 🙋Get your questions in now about #SCOTUS, IJ & public-interest law! #AMA #AskMeAnything www.reddit.com/r/supremecou...

Most normal people expect that, if a SWAT team raids the wrong house, the gov't is responsible for the costs. But courts around the U.S. have held the opposite, employing a variety of immunities to leave the burden on innocent families. Two @ij.org petitions ask SCOTUS to step in:

Barbers and hairstylists spend thousands of dollars and years of their lives to get licenses, but it turns out that strict licensing does not improve health and safety outcomes for the public. 🧵

Via this morning's Orders List, the Supreme Court has again relisted BOTH of @ij.org's wrong-house raid cert petitions. This could mean a number of different things, but the most important one for now is that the Court is still considering whether to hear one or both of these important cases.

2025 marks 10 years of Short Circuit. We've holding a party & you're invited! April 3 @ 7pm in DC. See Judges Diane Wood & Kent Jordan @adamliptak.bsky.social Eugene Volokh @volokhc.bsky.social @rmfifthcircuit.bsky.social @conlawwarrior.bsky.social plus @ij.org folks. Register below! #AppellateSky

IJ is now accepting applications for the Arthur D. Hellman Fellowship! This paid summer internship is perfect for #undergrad students who are excited to make a real-world impact through public interest law. Apply Now! instituteforjustice.applytojob.com/apply/xxMVgl...

The DEA shut down its Transportation Interdiction Program last week. @ij.org found out because we are suing DEA/TSA over their abusive cash seizure and civil forfeiture practices. It's good that the airport shakedowns are ending for now. But they need to be ended permanently: ij.org/press-releas...

#SCOTUS has relisted BOTH of @ij.org's #WrongHouseRaid cases for this Friday's conference. 1. Martin v. U.S. (11th Cir. barring FTCA w/#SovereignImmunity) 2. Jimerson v. Lewis (5th Cir. barring 1983 w/#QualifieidImmunity) The relists indicate someone at the Court is interested...

What's more romantic than learning about #CivilRights on Valentine's Day? Join me and my @ij.org colleague Jaba on 2/14 in New Orleans at the Civil Rights Etouffee CLE. We will be presenting on panels about #FirstAmendment retaliation and #QualifiedImmunity. www.etouffeelaw.com #LawSky

California bans many of the people who are fighting these wild fires while incarcerated from working as fire fighters once they get out. @ij.org sued, and it the Ninth Circuit just 3 pages to rule the ban was rational because people w/ felonies lack “moral character.” ij.org/case/califor...