Opinion | The Constitution doesn’t make an exception for misusing police powers Innocent people harmed in law enforcement raids deserve restitution.

“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.

North Carolina SWAT Destruction - Institute for Justice A North Carolina family is seeking to hold SWAT teams accountable for raiding the wrong home in April 2024.

Meanwhile, Avery and Alisa's case is still at the district court. But if #SCOTUS agrees to take either Carlos or Amy's case, it could make it clear to the lower courts that there is no police powers exemption to the Takings Clause.
ij.org/case/north-c...

Supreme Court Declines to Hear Case of Innocent Texas Woman Seeking Compensation After SWAT Team Destroyed Her Home  - Institute for Justice WASHINGTON—Today, the United States Supreme Court declined to hear a case brought by an innocent woman seeking compensation after a McKinney, Texas, SWAT team destroyed […]

We're asking #SCOTUS to hear Carlos and Amy's cases.

The court previously declined to hear Vicki's case, but Justices Sotomayor and Gorsuch said the court will one day need to grapple with this issue. Now is their chance.
ij.org/press-releas...

Carlos Pena, Amy Hadley, Alisa Carr, Avery Marshall, and Vicki Baker are all mentioned in the piece.

None of them did anything wrong, but all five have been denied compensation by the government after SWAT teams damaged their homes or businesses while pursuing fugitives.

Opinion | The Constitution doesn’t make an exception for misusing police powers Innocent people harmed in law enforcement raids deserve restitution.

" @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...

Albany mulls new limits on data from digital license plate readers The proposed restrictions come amid rising concern about immigration enforcement and medical privacy.

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-...

Residents sue San Jose in federal court over automated license-plate reader cameras

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.

Drivers sue San Jose over nearly 500 Flock police cameras that track drivers in California A class action lawsuit filed against San Jose and its police department Wednesday aims to require police to get warrants to track drivers.

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.

Drivers sue San Jose over nearly 500 Flock police cameras that track drivers in California A class action lawsuit filed against San Jose and its police department Wednesday aims to require police to get warrants to track drivers.

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...

Atlanta Woman Sues Officers, U.S. Government for Wrongly Raiding Her Home in Search of Man Already in Jail - Institute for Justice ATLANTA—Before the sun came up, Cathy George heard a loud pounding at her door. When she answered with her small, frightened dog in her arms, […]

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 drops parking minimums for much of the city. Here’s what it means Kansas City has eliminated the blanket minimum parking requirements for new buildings across a large portion of the city, but that does not mean new development will suddenly go up without any parking...

👏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...

Court Dismisses Lawsuit Challenging Warrantless Trespassing by Alabama Game Wardens; Property Owners Will Appeal - Institute for Justice FLORENCE, Ala.—On Thursday, the Circuit Court of Lauderdale County granted the state of Alabama’s motion to dismiss a constitutional lawsuit challenging a statute that permits game wardens to search private property without a warrant […]

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...

Police destroyed innocent people's property—and left them with the bill. Will the Supreme Court step in? The Fifth Amendment's Takings Clause promises "just compensation" when private property is taken for public use.

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.

Affidavit: Former Bonner Springs detective used license plate cameras to stalk wife A Wyandotte County District Court judge released new details Monday in a slew of charges filed last month against a former Bonner Springs Police Department detective.

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...

Opinion | A casket cartel tries to bury the competition An Oklahoma couple has run afoul of a state law protecting funeral-home operators.

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.

NoHo Print Shop Owner Asks Supreme Court to Hear Case Seeking Compensation After SWAT Team Destroyed Shop - Institute for Justice WASHINGTON—Today, a Los Angeles small business owner filed a petition asking the United States Supreme Court to hear his case seeking compensation after a SWAT team destroyed […]

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...

Federal Court Rules Eastern Shore Town, Councilman Violated Constitution When Councilman Cut Pipe Attached to Food Truck  - Institute for Justice NORFOLK, Va.—Today, a federal court ruled that the town of Parksley, Virginia, and Councilman Henry Nicholson violated the U.S. Constitution’s Fourth Amendment, as well as Virginia law, when Nicholson...

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.

SWAT Team Property Damages Get Support From Fifth Circuit Judges A Fifth Circuit panel signaled support for state law damages awarded to a Texas woman whose home was destroyed by a SWAT team seeking a fugitive.

Following today's oral argument, @bloomberglaw.com reports that the court "signaled support for state law damages awarded" to Vicki. 🤞
news.bloomberglaw.com/business-and...

You can listen to today's oral argument here: 5thcircuit.streamguys1.com/east

When we filed the case, we brought claims under both the U.S. and Texas Constitutions. The 5th Circuit previously ruled against us on the U.S. Constitution, but did not weigh in on the Texas Constitution.

The lower court ruled Vicki should be paid under the Texas Constitution.

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.

Judge George Hanks ruled the arrest of Justin was “retaliation for the exercise of his First Amendment rights of free speech as a citizen and journalist and to discourage this speech based on its content.”

Federal Court Rules That Fort Bend County Lieutenant Taylor Rollings Arrested Independent Journalist Justin Pulliam in Violation of the First Amendment  - Institute for Justice HOUSTON, TX—Yesterday afternoon, Judge George Hanks of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Texas handed a win to independent journalist Justin Pulliam […]

🚨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...

Many of these potentially illegal searches were missed by the city's own audits, further emphasizing the importance of only allowing police to search these databases when they have a warrant based on probable cause.

Of those 41 agencies, 29 still have access to Tiburon's database.

Many of the searches were conducted by local police on behalf of federal agencies that aren't supposed to have access to the database, such as the DEA and ATF.

The Ark | Ark investigation: Follow-up audit finds far broader access to Tiburon license-plate data As 41 agencies made 16,029 questionable searches — largely missed by town — Flock makes changes that conceal records, and Tiburon expands surveillance with two more cameras

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.

The Government Must Not Force Companies to Participate in AI-powered Surveillance The rapidly escalating conflict between Anthropic and the Pentagon, which started when the company refused to let the government use its technology to spy on Americans, has now gone to court. The Depa...

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.