Adam Shelton | Center for Judicial Engagement | January 3, 2022
Happy New Year from your friends at the Center for Judicial Engagement! We look forward to continuing our advocacy for judicial engagement throughout the year. We will be hitting the road again and discussing the importance of state constitutions in both Georgia and Michigan. And we will keep plugging judicial engagement on your favorite podcast…
Dan King | Press Release | December 22, 2021
Debra Gagne can reopen her business in time for the holidays
WATERTOWN, S.D.—After weeks of having her business shuttered and losing out on income, Debra Gagne can finally reopen her ride-for-hire company. This morning, the Watertown City Council held a special session to grant Debra a license to reopen Need-A-Ride, just in time for the busy holiday season. City officials also said they plan to reform…
Court finds North Wilkesboro zoning board relied on irrational reasons to prevent Barber Shelter from opening
Today, a federal district court held that the Catherine H. Barber Memorial Shelter should be allowed to open at its property in North Wilkesboro, North Carolina, and that the town and its zoning board violated the U.S. Constitution and North Carolina law in deciding otherwise. In October 2020, the Institute for Justice (IJ), a nonprofit,…
Dan King | Press Release | December 20, 2021
Watertown fines licensed drivers for accepting cash for rides unless city determines there’s a “need”
WATERTOWN, S.D. — Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to the city of Watertown, South Dakota, calling on officials to end the harmful “certificate of necessity” law for taxis. This law prevents individuals from offering car rides in exchange for cash, unless the city determines the existing public transportation infrastructure is “inadequate.”…
This week an old case with a fiery warning. Everyone who takes Constitutional Law in law school (or maybe in undergraduate versions too) learns that the Supreme Court killed economic liberty in 1937 with West Coast Hotel v. Parrish. There, it is taught, the Court closed the door on the Lochner era and has since…
Clearfield County, Penn.—Imagine spending July Fourth with family in the beautiful forests of the Allegheny Mountains. You’re sitting on the porch on private land, enjoying the peace and quiet and making memories. Then, a man storms up out of nowhere and says he’s been watching you for days with binoculars from a hidden spot on…
New lawsuit charges Coast Guard with delay that keeps experienced captain from earning an honest living
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Coast Guard refuses to hoist the white flag and register Captain Matthew Hight to pilot ships on the Great Lakes, despite losing a federal lawsuit that forced it to administer a required test—which Hight passed. Now Captain Hight, represented by the Institute for Justice (IJ), has filed a second federal lawsuit demanding that…