Government regulations are based on enacted laws, and those laws in turn rest on the limited powers granted to government by the Constitution. Whether these constitutional limits succeed in actually reining in government is one of the basic issues facing our country. This is where CEI’s legal expertise comes in.
Since 1986, CEI has engaged in strategic litigation on regulatory and constitutional issues, in areas ranging from free speech to environmental mandates and health care policy to financial regulation. This includes court challenges to both Obamacare and the Dodd-Frank Act. CEI’s legal team works to defend the Constitution, protect the rule of law, and bring transparency and accountability to the regulatory state.
Legal Issue Areas
Featured Posts
Blog
Government May Not Avoid Just Compensation in Debt Seizures
Some state governments have been acting as if the Fifth Amendment’s requirement of just compensation doesn’t apply in the course of collection of government debts.
Blog
Tennessee Corruption Case Raises Questions about Forfeiture and Police Office Culture
On a summer Tennessee night in 2021, Deputy Daniel Jacobs of the Tipton County Sheriff’s Office attempted, essentially, to sell a 2010 Lincoln MKZ to…
News Release
CEI Amicus Brief Supports States Challenging Biden Administration Appliance Efficiency Standards
WASHINGTON—The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) filed an amicus brief with the Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals last week, supporting Louisiana and a group…
Studies
Five Myths of Civil Forfeiture
Executive Summary Every year, federal, state, and local government agents take—and permanently keep—billions of dollars of Americans’ property through civil forfeiture. The practice of civil…
“They’re Taking My Stuff!”
What You Need to Know about Seizure and Forfeiture…
Pirates at the Parchment Gates
View Full Document as PDF In recent years, state attorneys general (AGs), have partnered with private lawyers working on a contingency fee…
Blog
The FTC vs. the Right to a Fair Trial
The Food and Drug Administration recently proposed capping the nicotine in cigarettes, which will encourage many smokers to smoke more to get the same nicotine…
Supreme Court Reins in the Administrative State in West Virginia v. EPA
The Supreme Court’s decision today in West Virginia v. Environmental Protection Agency is an important brake on the administrative state that has inexorably grown…
“They’re Taking My Stuff!” – Now on Video!
News that involves the police is inherently dramatic, and stories about what police officers do regularly make the news—asset seizure of hundreds of thousands of…
News
Ninth Circuit Ruling Against Washington State Couple Opens Door to Wealth Taxes
WASHINGTON—A three-judge panel of the Ninth Circuit today ruled against Charles and Kathleen Moore’s constitutional challenge to President Trump’s Mandatory Repatriation Tax. The panel dismissed…
Court Rules VA Attorney General Must Turn Over Emails Related to “Law Enforcement for Rent” Scheme
A Circuit Court in Richmond, VA on Tuesday ordered the Office of the Attorney General (OAG) of Virginia to conduct a proper search for…
Report: Government Seizes Billions in Private Property, but Citizens Have Little Recourse
Every year, federal, state, and local government agents take and permanently keep, collectively, billions of dollars of Americans’ property through a practice called civil forfeiture,…
Op-Eds
City Journal
Returning Policymaking Power to Congress
Each year, federal administrative agencies issue between 3,000 and 5,000 final rules. In addition, they issue thousands of guidance documents—termed “Regulatory…
Inside Sources
Don’t Believe the Government’s Talking Points about Civil Asset Forfeiture
Every year, federal, state and local government agents take — and permanently keep — billions of dollars of Americans’ property through a practice known as…
City Journal
An Affirmative Action Endgame?
The Supreme Court has agreed to hear two cases challenging racial preferences in university admissions. It’s an important move that could pave the way toward…
