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Institute for Justice

5 min read

The Institute for Justice is a public interest law firm that litigates in the areas of economic liberty, private property rights, educational choice, and freedom of speech, according to host Bob Zadek’s introduction of one of its attorneys Abusive Fines and Fees (2022). Zadek described it as his favorite public interest law firm and said its litigation is free to its clients The Great Founding Fathers (2010). Over more than a decade of episodes, attorneys and researchers affiliated with the organization appeared as guests to describe its cases and studies.

Economic liberty and occupational licensing

Anthony Sanders, identified as a staff attorney at the Institute for Justice, told Zadek that the organization has taken on cases where a license is required for an occupation but the occupation is so far removed from the license that it amounts to a bar to entry. He said the organization has represented clients who perform African hair braiding, and that in such cases the training requirement is usually something like 2,000 hours of cosmetology The Great Founding Fathers (2010). Zadek said he knew about the hair braiding cases and that they were big in San Francisco about 10 years earlier; Sanders said the organization had a California case in San Francisco a number of years ago and cases in other places, including Minnesota.

Dick Carpenter, identified as Senior Director of Strategic Research at the Institute for Justice, discussed a study the organization conducted on occupational licensing. Zadek framed the episode around the study, saying it provided hard data to support what he and the organization know about licensing: that there is no economic, political, or social reason for so many lawful, relatively harmless, low-threat activities to require a bureaucrat’s permission New data shows that occupational licensing does nothing to increase quality (2022).

Property rights and civil asset forfeiture

Zadek said that about a decade earlier the Institute for Justice published a data-filled compendium titled “Policing for Profit,” which pointed out an abuse existing throughout the country whereby law enforcement was allowed to keep and enjoy the benefits of citizens’ property obtained through forfeiture Abusive Fines and Fees (2022). He described the process as one in which the property of a law-abiding citizen who has not committed a crime and is not accused of committing one is taken by law enforcement and retained by the police department or municipality without any conviction. In a separate episode on the same subject, Zadek gave a nearly identical account of the compendium and the forfeiture process Abusive Fines and Fees (2022).

Bill Maurer, identified as a managing attorney in the Washington State office of the Institute for Justice, was Zadek’s guest for the discussion of abusive fines and fees. Zadek said he asked Maurer to join the show after Maurer wrote a piece for an organization publication calling attention to abusive fines and fees, a system by which municipalities have learned to live off fines and fees paid by the portion of their voters least able to afford it Abusive Fines and Fees (2022).

Mike Greenberg, identified as a litigation attorney with the Institute for Justice, was described by Zadek as handling cases promoting personal property rights, economic liberty, and free speech, and as particularly active in civil asset forfeiture abuse Pleading the Fourth: The Institute for Justice’s Fight Against Policing-for-Profit (2023).

The San Francisco pet store ban

In the 2010 episode, Zadek and Sanders discussed a proposed San Francisco ban on pet store sales. Sanders said that under such a law, even the most careful, watched, trained pet seller who vets all customers could not sell pets, and that it effectively makes pets contraband. He said that if someone had a kitten with a litter and gave the kittens away, that would not be banned, but that charging for them would be. Zadek said the ban had not yet passed and was also being considered in Austin, Texas. He argued that if puppy mills are the concern, the response should be to regulate the mills and humane treatment rather than close the pet stores, and he predicted pet stores would relocate to Daly City, Marin County, or Oakland The Great Founding Fathers (2010).

Across episodes

The episodes show the same themes argued across multiple episodes without a clear development from earlier to later treatment. The 2010 episode with Sanders frames economic liberty through the pumpkin and pet store examples and mentions Kelo v. New London in its introduction, while the 2022 episodes with Maurer and the 2023 episode with Greenberg return to civil asset forfeiture and policing for profit, and the 2022 episode with Carpenter addresses occupational licensing research. Sheldon Gilbert, in the 2018 episode on birthright citizenship, is introduced as having previously been director of the Institute for Justice’s Center for Judicial Engagement, but the excerpt ends before he speaks Revenge of the Pen and the Phone (2018).

Guests and episodes

5 appearances by 5 guests, 2010–2023. Guests A–Z by first name.

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