Two parents are suing state and local officials in Massachusetts in federal court for heavy-handed treatment during a bungled investigation into allegations of child abuse that were later discredited. The plight of the family received national attention in December 2022 when The Washington Post and Reason magazine told their tale. The family is represented by…

A new documentary film attempting to throw light on the rise of government power wielded by unelected experts–known today as the fourth branch of government, or the administrative state—launched online Jan. 27. This unaccountable administrative state, which is reined in at the margins by the courts from time to time, is why laws today largely…

A disabled Navy veteran who owns a small business is suing the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) in federal court over a contracting program that excludes non-minorities from participating. Marty Hierholzer filed suit (pdf) recently in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia against the SBA, claiming his constitutional rights were violated. Hierholzer’s…

Two longtime midwives are suing Iowa over a state law they say unconstitutionally discriminates against their profession, preventing them from opening a freestanding birth center that would compete against local hospitals. The midwives claim that the state’s certificate of need (CON) process is unconstitutional and gives established businesses, particularly hospitals, a so-called competitor’s veto preventing…

A man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against Arkansas because state law prevents him from serving on a state board because of the color of his skin. The legal complaint (pdf) in the case, Haile v. Hutchinson, filed Jan. 4 in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Arkansas, claims that a…

An Arkansas man has filed a federal civil rights lawsuit against the state because state law prevents him from serving on a state board because of the color of his skin. The legal complaint (pdf) in the case, Haile v. Hutchinson, which was filed on Jan. 4 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern…

A new California gun law allowing private citizens to sue manufacturers and retailers for selling banned firearms went into effect this year. California’s new regulations give private citizens the ability to sue anyone who imports, distributes, manufactures, or sells assault firearms, homemade weapons, ghost guns, or .50 BMP rifles. The law, Senate Bill (SB) 1327, also…

Twelve states and the District of Columbia allow local governments and private investors to seize dramatically more than what is owed from homeowners who fall behind on property tax payments, according to a new report. The practice, which Pacific Legal Foundation (PLF) calls “home equity theft,” is documented in what the organization bills as the…

A business owner filed a federal civil rights class action lawsuit against Cook County, Ill., over a new pandemic relief program that excludes white people. Chiropractor Domenic Cusano Jr. owns a chiropractic practice in Chicago, where he has been treating patients for more than 25 years. Although government orders allowed his business, Cusano Chiropractic, to…

Two East Coast fishermen are suing the Biden administration, claiming that a federal body that plans to curb their ocean catch is illegally constituted and therefore has no authority to issue such restrictive regulations. The lawsuit comes as legal challenges to the so-called administrative state, whose officials are not appointed by the president or subject…