Beyond the Brief

Teaching kids to swim in a backyard pool is an American tradition, but one South Carolina city has now banned backyard swim lessons. Libby Souder taught one-on-one swim lessons for a few hours a day until a neighbor complained—before he even moved in.  Today we talk with IJ attorneys Renée Flaherty and Robert Fellner to discuss how cities make harmless home businesses illegal and how IJ fights back.   https://youtu.be/cpYMCcA-MYg Related Case Become a Monthly Donor Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year. Donate now

We are headed back to the U.S. Supreme Court with three cases in the next term. Today, we’re discussing two of those cases, which could have major implications for private property, agency power, and individual rights. One case asks whether property owners can be forced to pay huge legal bills just to get fair compensation when their land is taken. The other asks whether the government can drag Americans into agency-run courts instead of real ones.  Today we are talking with  IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Rob Johnson.  https://youtu.be/TIxGlClGiHI Become a Monthly Donor Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year. Donate now

Stealing small businesses’ bank accounts and spying on people using cash. It’s the IRS and other agencies run amok.  Today we’re talking with IJ senior attorneys Dan Alban and Rob Johnson about how the IRS used “structuring” laws to take money from people who did nothing wrong. We’ll also cover IJ’s fight against new rules that sweep ordinary cash transactions into a financial surveillance dragnet—and what all of this means for people who use cash or run a small business. https://youtu.be/UkcVlKFG_H4 Related News September 17, 2026 Become a Monthly Donor Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year. Donate now

Mike DiGiacomo and his siblings turned the basement of their father’s old barbershop building into a barber-themed speakeasy. But their attempt to honor their father became a legal battle when Nebraska’s Barber Board told them to change the name or possibly go to jail.  Today we’re talking with IJ deputy litigation director Robert McNamara and IJ attorney Nick DeBenedetto about an outrageous case of licensing board censorship.  https://youtu.be/5NuqFA7vGVY Related Case Become a Monthly Donor Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year. Donate now

In America, police and prosecutors can take your cash, your car, or even your home through a legal process called civil forfeiture—without convicting or even charging you with a crime. When they do, victims face a maze of short deadlines, complicated paperwork, and a system built so that the government often wins by default.  The Institute for Justice leads the fight against this abuse, in part by publishing Policing for Profit: the best and most complete analysis of civil forfeiture across all 50 states and the federal government. And we’ve just released the Fourth Edition.  Today we talk with IJ’s Senior Director of Strategic Research Lisa Knepper and IJ senior attorney Kirby West. We’re breaking down what the report found, how we built it, and what forfeiture looks like from the perspective of the people who have had property taken and had to fight to get it back.  https://youtu.be/KhXDBOJcXzY Become a Monthly Donor Are you looking for a rewarding and consistent way to support IJ’s work?  Become a member of our Merry Band of Monthly Donors and stand shoulder to shoulder with our clients every month of the year. Donate now