Cameras originally meant for ticketing cars that passed school busses with their stop signs out, now photograph every vehicle a bus drives by. “Who would have thought that school buses would be turned into the mass surveillance state?” @ij.org 's Michael Soyfer. www.404media.co/buspatrol-pu...

🎊HUGE WIN🎊 The 5th Circuit just upheld a lower court ruling that @ij.org client Vicki Baker is entitled to $60,000 plus interest under the Texas Constitution after a SWAT team destroyed her home in 2020.

It's not every day you have members of the Freedom Caucus and Progressive Caucus co-sponsoring reforms. Momentum is growing to stop license plate reader abuse! @wired.com www.wired.com/story/a-bipa...

Today, @ij.org filed a lawsuit on behalf of PA real estate broker Kevin Gaughen, challenging a law that requires brokers in the Keystone State to have a brick-and-mortar office. It costs him $35,000 per year to maintain an office neither he nor his clients use. ij.org/press-releas...

Seems bad! www.404media.co/the-fbi-want...

Sunday marks 4 years since the city of Pasadena, Texas agreed to let @ij.org client Oz Sepulveda open his auto shop w/o adding 23 parking spots he can't afford & doesn't need. Since then the city has been using delay tactics to keep him closed. But that may FINALLY be changing.🧵

The Nebraska Board of Barber Examiners has threatened a speakeasy in Omaha with criminal punishment for calling itself "The Barbershop." The bar has temporarily changed its name to "The Censored Shop" and @ij.org has joined the bar's 1st Amendment lawsuit. ij.org/press-releas...

Eminent Domain for a PRIVATE Rail Line? Learn more about IJ's fight against eminent domain abuse in Sparta, Georgia: https://ij.org/case/sparta-georgia-eminent-domain/ @kinger-dc.bsky.social

Today, #SCOTUS heard arguments in a major 4th Amendment case, Chatrie v. United States. @ij.org submitted a brief in the case, urging the court to recognize that the execution of a multi-step geofence warrant is unconstitutional. ij.org/press-releas...

Got to watch Marimar Martinez, George Retes, Ryan Ecklund, and Pastor Black testify before the House Committee on Homeland Security today. The whole room was in stunned silence while Marimar got up and showed the bullet holes a CBP agent bragged about putting in her.

“The militarization of law enforcement has been dramatized by Immigration and Customs Enforcement agents operating with too little training and too much testosterone,” George F. Will writes.

" @ij.org hopes that the Supreme Court’s textualists will eventually acknowledge the absence of a police-power exception in the takings clause’s text. " - George Will on our work seeking compensation for innocent people whose property is destroyed by SWAT. www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Lawmakers in NY are considering some important restrictions on police use of ALPR cameras. The bill would cut the data retention period to 48 hours and would require a warrant in many cases. @ij.org sees this as a huge step in the right direction @gothamist.com gothamist.com/news/albany-...

The lawsuit filed by the Virginia-based Institute for Justice seeks class-action status, claims cameras and police database searches are unconstitutional and unwarranted surveillance.

New: San Jose and SJPD sued over use of nearly 500 Flock Safety cameras. Class action alleges their prevalence and the accessibility of residents' location data violates the Fourth Amendment.

NEW CASE Today, 3 San Jose residents teamed up with @ij.org to file a class action lawsuit against the city over its warrantless use of nearly 500 license plate reader cameras. @nbcnews.com's @kevincollier.bsky.social has the exclusive: www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-ne...

In 2023, a SWAT team from the U.S. Marshals and Dekalb County Sheriff's deputies raided Cathy George's home. They were looking for a man who had never been there and had already been in jail for months. Today, Cathy and @ij.org sued. ij.org/press-releas...

👏Kansas City, Missouri has dropped its mandatory parking minimums for much of the city. @ij.org's Cities Work team worked closely with city officials to get these reforms passed. www.kctv5.com/2026/04/11/k...

Yesterday, an Alabama court upheld a law that allows game wardens to snoop on private land without a warrant or consent. @ij.org and our clients, who have had their land trespassed on by officers multiple times, will appeal this decision. ij.org/press-releas...

The Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause promises "just compensation" when private property is taken for public use. But some courts have ruled that it does not always apply when police are involved.

Nothing to see here, just another cop using ALPRs to stalk innocent people. If only there was a way to prevent this, like requiring warrants before ALPRs are searched! www.kshb.com/news/crime/a...

George Will, In @postopinions.bsky.social, on @ij.org's case taking on Oklahoma's casket cartel: "In Oklahoma, you can be buried in a cardboard box, or a shroud, or nothing. But not in a casket unless the purchase of it enriches the state’s funeral cartel." www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/202...

Carlos Pena spent 30 years building his business. It took minutes for an L.A. SWAT team to destroy it. Now they refuse to pay damages estimated at tens of thousands of dollars. With IJ's help, Carlos is asking the #SupremeCourt to hear his case.

Today, @ij.org asked #SCOTUS to hear the case of an innocent small businessman whose shop was destroyed by a SWAT team in 2022. Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch have said the court may eventually need to address this issue. What better time than now? ij.org/press-releas...

HUGE @ij.org VICTORY No qualified immunity for a raging town councilman who came onto our clients' property, cut their food truck's water line & allegedly told them to "go back to your own country." The court ruled Parksley, VA & Councilman Henry Nicholson are liable for damages.

Starting soon: The 5th Circuit will hear oral arguments in @ij.org's lawsuit seeking compensation for Vicki Baker, an innocent woman whose home was destroyed by a SWAT team in 2020. Today's argument comes after the city of McKinney appealed our lower court victory.

🚨1st Amendment victory!🚨 Yesterday, a federal judge ruled Fort Bend County police violated the First Amendment when they arrested @ij.org client/independent journalist Justin Pulliam for filming a police welfare check. ij.org/press-releas...

A new investigation from @thearknewspaper.com found that 41 California law enforcement agencies conducted more than 16,000 possibly illegal searches of the city of Tiburon's license plate reader database in just 6 months. www.thearknewspaper.com/live/ark-inv...

Just a complete waste of everyone's time and money. I saw a group of them literally having a picnic the other day. They don't want to be here. We don't need them. Troops on the streets is bad.

EFF has joined a brief in the Anthropic-DOD case explaining why forcing companies to alter their technology to facilitate surveillance violates the First Amendment.

ALPR cameras misread the "7" on Brandon Upchurch's license plate as a "2" leading police to pull him over and sick a dog on him that mauled him. But the cops and the private companies that run these cameras insist their "safeguards" work. They don't. www.businessinsider.com/flock-safety...

"Civil liberties groups like @ij.org and @eff.org are scrambling to hold the line on search-and-seizure protections in a world where smartphones create a constant record of most people's locations." reason.com/2026/03/06/c...

What if we just ... got rid of DHS?

Yesterday, @ij.org submitted an amicus brief in the #SCOTUS case Chatrie v. U.S. asking the court to make it clear that a multi-step geofence warrant that gives police discretion to decide if probable cause exists is unconstitutional. ij.org/press-releas...

The Ukrainian team was forbidden to use their uniforms with a map of Ukraine at the 2026 Paralympics. Allegedly, this uniforms conveys a political message. The team's uniform contained an image of Ukraine within the 1991 borders (see image). To be honest, this is starting to be outrageous.

Between 75-97% of DC residents in housing, child custody, or domestic violence cases go without legal representation. A new program, supported by @ij.org ,will help address that issue by allowing more qualified people to help provide affordable legal help. www.wusa9.com/article/news...

“Are we going to war?” Senate Majority Leader: “I don’t know the answer to that.” The Article I Crisis, wearing a suit and tie.

Cops continue to use license plate readers to stalk their girlfriends, wives, ex-girlfriends, and more. This abuse will continue unless we start requiring warrants for access to ALPRs. madison365.com/milwaukee-po...

Coming up at the top of the hour on @ms.now: @ij.org client George Retes discussing his detention by federal agents and his fight for accountability.

Another @ij.org First Amendment victory! Today, an Iowa judge ruled that officials in the city of Newton violated our client's rights when they arrested him after he criticized the police and called them "fascists." ij.org/press-releas...

Another @ij.org 1A Retaliation Victory! A mayor and police chief arrested Noah Petersen for calling them fascists in a public meeting and saying the police department is "pro domestic abuse." Today, the court denied them qualified immunity & granted Noah summary judgment. ij.org/press-releas...

Got a doozy for you guys: A man was pulled over by South Carolina cops and charged with trafficking fentanyl after police tested his prescription IBS medication using notoriously unreliable field kits. It took him a year and a half to clear his name reason.com/2026/02/23/h...

Four years into its war, Moscow has failed to achieve any of its strategic objectives. The pressure in the peace talks seems to be falling on Ukraine. But if we want this war to stop and any peace to last, we need to see concessions from Russia. My doorstep ahead of our Foreign Affairs Council ↓

Happy Liberation Day to all who celebrate

The president can't unilaterally impose taxes? Who could have POSSIBLY seen that coming!?

Victory in South Tucson, AZ! 🏆 "The City Council voted Feb. 17 to cancel the agreement, making South Tucson the third #Arizona city to cut ties with the #surveillance company amid growing scrutiny of how data from the cameras is used and shared." #deflock #alpr

Starting soon: The Georgia Court of Appeals will hear oral arguments in @ij.org's lawsuit challenging a private railroad's attempt to use eminent domain to build a rail spur that will only be used by a couple private companies. This is clear eminent domain abuse.

Last year, Austin canceled its ALPR contract, but now the Texas Department of Public Safety has installed ALPRs in Austin. This undermines the argument of ALPR companies that this surveillance is supported by the "democratic process." www.fox7austin.com/news/texas-d...

⚡️US military aid to Ukraine dropped 99% in 2025, report finds. European countries stepped in to fill the gap, increasing military aid to Ukraine by 67% and non-military support by 59% in 2025, according to the Kiel Institute for the World Economy.