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
Moore good news? CEI responds to government in landmark tax case
Earlier today, the Competitive Enterprise Institute filed a reply brief in the Moores’ case. A few weeks ago, the government argued that the Supreme…
Blog
Debt deal’s PAYGO law won’t pay out. Here’s how to fix it.
In an effort to curb excessive government spending, a provision known as statutory administrative PAYGO (Pay-As-You-Go) has been introduced in the debt ceiling deal struck…
Blog
Protecting private property in the Peach State
Institute for Justice communications manager Dan King brings us an infuriating but important story out of the state of Georgia. Property owners in the…
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…
Memoirs of a Prosecutor
Foreword Viewers who have seen the classic TV detective show Dragnet will recall the lines that introduced each episode: “The story you are about to…
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…
Blog
Supreme Court ruling restores property rights, closes spigot on Clean Water Act abuses
The U.S. Supreme Court in Sackett v. EPA has finally provided some clarity on one of the most basic questions in environmental law: what…
Free the Economy podcast: Transparency for government, privacy for people with Brian Hawkins
In this week’s episode we talk discuss Tim Carney’s view on why big government is good for big business, Stone Washington on the…
Supreme Court breathes new life into Takings Clause in Tyler v. Hennepin County
When you don’t pay property taxes, you run the risk of the government seizing and selling your property. That’s what happened to Geraldine Tyler, a…
News
Supreme Court Protects Property Rights from Federal Overreach in Sackett v. EPA Decision
The Supreme Court today ruled in favor of the Sackett family in a property rights dispute with the Environmental Protection Agency. The EPA claimed…
Report: Civil Forfeiture Policy Unjustly Deprives People of Property
An updated Competitive Enterprise Institute report calls attention to five myths used to justify the unjust law enforcement practice known as civil asset forfeiture.
Supreme Court to Hear Lawsuit Challenging Unfair ‘Chevron Doctrine’
The Supreme Court today agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging the Chevron doctrine, a policy requiring courts to defer to regulatory agencies in lawsuits…
Op-Eds
The Daily Signal
Congress Must End This Multibillion-dollar Government Slush Fund
A little-known slush fund at the U.S. Department of Agriculture has become a go-to funding source for billions of dollars of abusive spending…
National Review
Was the U.S. furtively funding the lab research that unleashed Covid-19?
Slowly but surely, new cracks are appearing in the wall of silence denying Chinese culpability in causing the nearly 7 million deaths attributed to…
New York Post
The numbers prove Cuomo’s lockdowns hurt NYers on EVERY metric — while Florida flourished
What a difference a few years make. In 2020, the mainstream media lauded Gov. Andrew Cuomo for his strong but compassionate COVID-19 leadership. He won a…
