Strategic Research
Immunity and Accountability
Unaccountable
The largest ever study of qualified immunity cases, Unaccountable finds the doctrine shields a wider array of officials and conduct than commonly thought while unacceptably burdening victims of government abuse and failing at its goals.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
License to Work 3
This third edition of IJ’s landmark License to Work report finds that for lower-income Americans, licensing continues to be widespread, burdensome and—frequently—irrational. It also provides a blueprint for meaningful licensing reform.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Raising Barriers, Not Quality
This study tests claims that occupational licenses make consumers better off by screening out workers likely to provide inferior service. Comparing Yelp ratings for service providers in neighboring states with different licensing regimes, this study…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Too Many Licenses
In recent decades, states have enacted occupational licensing laws covering a growing number of jobs, and now more American workers than ever must get a license to work. But do we need these new licenses?…
Economic Liberty | Vending
Food Truck Truth: Why Restaurants—and Cities—Have Nothing to Fear from Mobile Food Businesses
Learn more about our vending work. The Institute for Justice challenges anti-competitive laws that harm street vendors by unconstitutionally restricting their right to earn an honest living. LEARN MORE…
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Entrepreneur From Home: How Home-Based Businesses Provide Flexibility and Opportunity—and How Cities Can Get Out of Their Way
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Frustrating, Corrupt, Unfair
Victims of civil forfeiture call it frustrating, corrupt and unfair. This first-of-its-kind survey describes the experiences of victims of one civil forfeiture program, Philadelphia’s.
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty
Beauty School Debt and Drop-Outs
Cosmetology is one of the most widely and onerously regulated occupations for lower-income workers, yet little research has explored the experiences of aspiring beauty workers. This first-of-its-kind study takes advantage of federal educational…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
Beauty School Debt and Drop-Outs
A January 2021 executive order requires Utah executive agencies to identify occupational regulations that are no longer necessary or can be reined in to reduce barriers to entry. One regulation that should be on the table is cosmetology…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Does Forfeiture Work?
Forfeiture is a controversial tool police and prosecutors use to take and keep people’s cash, cars and even homes under the guise of fighting crime. This study is the first to look at whether state…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Policing for Profit
Nationwide, civil forfeiture is a massive threat to property and due process rights. So finds the third edition of Policing for Profit: The Abuse of Civil Asset Forfeiture. The report presents the largest ever collection…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Jetway Robbery?
Law enforcement agencies routinely seize currency from travelers at airports nationwide using civil forfeiture—a legal process that allows agencies to take and keep property without ever charging owners with a crime, let alone securing a…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
Municipal Fines and Fees
Cities and towns nationwide use their power to enforce traffic, property code and other ordinances to raise revenue rather than solely to protect the public. And, as this report finds, a wide range of state…
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing
Barriers to Braiding: Illinois Analysis
This report supplements our 2016 study Barriers to Braiding: How Job-Killing Licensing Laws Tangle Natural Hair Care in Needless Red Tape. That study investigated whether (1) braiding licenses keep people out of work…
Code Enforcement | Fines and Fees | Private Property
The Price of Taxation by Citation
Taxation by citation is when local governments use their power to enforce traffic and other ordinances to raise revenue rather than solely to protect the public. This report explores the phenomenon via case studies of…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Fighting Crime or Raising Revenue?
Forfeiture is a controversial tool governments use to take and keep property often without charging or convicting anyone with a crime. Police typically get a portion of the proceeds. Proponents argue forfeiture helps police fight…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Forfeiture in Arizona
In 2017, Arizona adopted incremental but important bipartisan reforms of the state’s civil forfeiture system. These reforms included new transparency requirements for forfeiture, obliging agencies to report the value, type and date of a property…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Civil Forfeiture, Crime Fighting and Safeguards for the Innocent
In 2017, the Department of Justice revived a controversial federal forfeiture program the previous administration had sharply curtailed. In defense of these “adoptive forfeitures” or “adoptions,” as well as of civil forfeiture in general, the…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Ready to Roll
Most states have “cottage food laws,” which regulate the sale of homemade foods. The specifics vary from state to state, but most such laws restrict the types of homemade foods that may be sold. Research…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
At What Cost?
Not only do state occupational licensing laws force people to spend a lot of time and money earning a license instead of earning a living, they also impose real economic costs. This study takes advantage…
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Regulatory Overdrive
Traditional taxis are highly regulated in most American cities, with local regulators determining everything from how many taxis can be licensed to the types of services they can provide to the fares they can charge…
Economic Liberty | Vending
A Golden Opportunity for the Golden State
California’s sidewalk vendors face a patchwork of arbitrary and anticompetitive rules that make it difficult—or even impossible—to ply their chosen trade and share in the prosperity of the United States’ largest economy. Now the California…
Economic Liberty | Food Freedom
Flour Power
All across the country, thousands of Americans are making food at home to sell in their communities. Together, they form the small but growing “cottage food” industry. With renewed interest in this age-old industry, laws…
Economic Liberty | Private Property
Finding the American Dream at Home
Across the country, millions of enterprising people are running businesses out of their homes. This report outlines the myriad benefits of home-based businesses and suggests that government regulations curtailing them are short-sighted. It details how…
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing
License to Work 2
License to Work, 2nd Edition Published in 2017, this is an older edition of IJ’s landmark License to Work report. You can download the report and read about data improvements we made between the first…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Forfeiture Transparency & Accountability
Every year, local, state and federal law enforcement agencies across the United States seize and keep billions of dollars in cash, cars, homes and other property using a legal tool called forfeiture. Criminal forfeiture requires…
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | Occupational Licensing | Occupational Speech
Putting Licensing to the Test
More Americans than ever need a license to work. But what do occupational licenses actually accomplish? This case study of one such license adds to a growing body of research that suggests this red tape…
Economic Liberty | Hair Braiding
Barriers to Braiding
African-style hair braiding is a time-tested and natural craft. Yet most states force braiders to get a government license and take hundreds or even thousands of hours of classes to work legally. This study finds…
Educational Choice | Tax Credit Scholarships
On Common Constitutional Ground
Launched in 2008, Georgia’s scholarship tax credit program will help over 13,000 children get the best education for their needs at secular and religious private schools this year. But in 2014 school choice opponents sued…
Civil Forfeiture | Private Property
Policing for Profit: Second Edition
Policing for Profit, 2nd Edition Published in 2015, this is an older edition of IJ’s landmark Policing for Profit report. You can download the report here, but please see the third and current edition for the most up-to-date…