Featured Posts
Blog
Labor Department would ignore law to change overtime rules
I submitted a comment on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute to the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding…
News Release
CEI welcomes Supreme Court review of censorship ‘jawboning’ case
Competitive Enterprise Institute Attorney Devin Watkins praised the U.S. Supreme Court for agreeing to hear a lawsuit challenging government “jawboning,” pressuring private entities like social…
Blog
Cease and desist, CEI urges National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
I submitted comments on behalf of CEI to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Monday on its proposed model year (MY) 2027-2032…
Search Posts
Blog
Labor Department would ignore law to change overtime rules
I submitted a comment on behalf of the Competitive Enterprise Institute to the Wage and Hour Division of the Department of Labor (DOL) regarding…
News Release
CEI welcomes Supreme Court review of censorship ‘jawboning’ case
Competitive Enterprise Institute Attorney Devin Watkins praised the U.S. Supreme Court for agreeing to hear a lawsuit challenging government “jawboning,” pressuring private entities like social…
Blog
Cease and desist, CEI urges National Highway Traffic Safety Administration
I submitted comments on behalf of CEI to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Monday on its proposed model year (MY) 2027-2032…
Blog
A Jury Trial Must Precede Fines and Occupational Banishment
Imagine that the government has accused you of wrongdoing that you didn’t commit. You would expect a jury of your peers to recognize your innocence.
News Release
Supreme Court hears case against CFPB, including unusual claim concerning government powers: CEI analysis
Today, the Supreme Court heard oral argument in CFPB v. CFSA, in which the Court will decide if the CFPB’s funding structure, which bypasses…
Blog
The way the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is funded is unconstitutional
Today the Supreme Court hears oral arguments in the case CFPB v. Community Financial Services Association. The appellee correctly complains that…
News Release
A Supreme Court ruling against CFPB would benefit consumers: CEI analysis
Today, the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments in CFPB v. CFSA, in which the Court will decide if the CFPB’s funding structure, which bypasses…
Study
The World Needs More Lawyers
This study was originally authored for the Regulatory Transparency Project at The Federalist Society By Shoshana Weissmann, Daniel Greenberg, Luke Wake, Braden Boucek and Jonathan…
Blog
Free the Economy podcast: Supreme Court preview with Ashley Baker
In this week’s episode we talk about the long history of the Lewis Powell memo of 1971, innovation in textile recycling, how…
Blog
EEOC finds something to do!
Rep. Ann Wagner (R-MO) introduced a sensible bill in Dec. 2022 providing that before issuing a regulation, the Securities and Exchange Commission must “clearly identify…
News Release
New CEI report proposes bold reforms to restore Constitution’s constraints on government power
A new Competitive Enterprise Institute report proposes significant reforms aimed at restoring the U.S. Constitution’s separation and balance of powers that are vital to…
Study
Constitutional Restoration: How to rebuild the separation of powers
Introduction A specter is haunting America—the specter of unlimited government. A central feature of our Constitution is that it restricts the federal government’s powers. These…
Wall Street Journal
Is a U.S. Wealth Tax Constitutional?
The Wall Street Journal encourages the Supreme Court to grant cert in CEI’s Moore v. US case: The Moores have appealed to the…
Blog
Activist securities regulators should worry as Supreme Court revisits Chevron doctrine
The U.S. Supreme Court recently issued a major announcement that may impose significant changes to agency statutory interpretation. The Court has agreed to hear…
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
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…
Blog
A remembrance: C. Boyden Gray, 1943-2023
We mourn the passing of C. Boyden Gray. He was a man of his family, the law, and his country. Boyden served in the highest…
Blog
Time to rip the veil of secrecy off government agencies’ in-house courts
In a previous piece, we explored some of the pros and cons of administrative law courts (ALCs). These are regulatory agencies’ special in-house courts,…
Blog
New Jersey fishermen challenge Chevron deference
Big news out of the Supreme Court this week as justices have agreed to hear a lawsuit challenging the so-called Chevron doctrine, a policy requiring…
News Release
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.
Study
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…
News Release
Supreme Court Ruling Ensures People Can Challenge Agency Authority in Court
The Supreme Court ruled today that regulatory agency tribunals do not have any special expertise in deciding constitutional law questions; therefore, district courts can hear…
Blog
Legislation Introduced to Curb Federal Forfeiture
Earlier this month, Congressman Tim Walberg (R-MI) reintroduced the Fifth Amendment Restoration Act (FAIR) Act. This measure is aimed at curbing federal forfeiture…
Blog
What Are Administrative Law Courts? Why Do They Matter?
The judicial branch is presumably an independent branch of government, alongside the legislative and executive branches. But many regulatory agencies have their own in-house court…
News Release
Washington Couple Challenging Federal Shareholder Tax Petition Supreme Court to Take Up Their Case
Kathleen and Charles Moore, a Washington state couple challenging a 2017 tax on their shares in a foreign company, petitioned the Supreme Court today…
Blog
Kathleen and Charles Moore Prepare to take their Fight Against Taxing Unrealized Gains to Supreme Court
In 2017, Congress passed the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act. The new law was a reform of the federal tax code, but also included a…
Testimony
Written testimony on amendment to HB 593 (forfeiture reform)
In the statement below, I discuss several ways that the proposed amendment to HB 593 will improve New Hampshire’s justice system. The House Committee on…
News Release
New Video: Kathleen and Charles Moore on Why the Supreme Court Should Hear their Challenge to Tax on Unrealized Gains
“If you haven’t received any income, how can you be required to pay income taxes?” The question, asked by Charles Moore in a new…
Study
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…
News Release
CEI Seeks Court Order on National Climate Task Force Records
The Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) sought a court order to preserve relevant documents and other materials from the White House’s National Climate Task…
Citation
Radio: Dan Greenberg Joins Eric Boehm
CEI General Counsel Dan Greenberg joins Eric Boehm at American Radio Journal to discuss Tyler v. Hennepin County.
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…
News Release
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…
News Release
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,…
Study
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…
Legal Brief
Brief of Amicus Curiae – Case No. 22-60008
UNITED STATES COURT OF APPEALS FOR THE FIFTH CIRCUIT Case No. 22-60008 Consumers’ Research, et al., v. Federal Communications Commission, et al., Brief of…
News Release
Judge Rejects CDC’s Unfounded Mask Mandate for Travel
U.S. District Court Judge Mizelle today vacated the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) mask mandate for public transit, such as airports, train stations, airplanes,…
E&E News
Inside a Legal Doctrine that Could Derail Biden Climate Regs
E&E News cites CEI Attorney Devin Watkins on the EPA’s new legislation outlining vehicle emissions standards: As in the Supreme Court power plant…
Business Insider
Biden’s Billionaire Tax Would Work a Lot Like the Withholding You See on Your Paycheck
Business Insider cites CEI President Kent Lassman on Biden’s proposed “billionaire tax” in the release budget for fiscal year 2023: “What’s a problem with…
Reuters
Ethanol Producers, 16 States Challenge EPA U.S. Vehicle Rules
Reuters cites CEI’s court petition challenging the new EPA vehicle emissions rule: The Competitive Enterprise Institute and Domestic Energy Producers Alliance also filed a…
E&E News
Supreme Court Seems Ready to Limit EPA Power Plant Oversight
E&E News cites Senior Fellow Marlo Lewis, Jr. on the new EPA regulatory power: Marlo Lewis, a senior fellow at the Competitive Enterprise Institute,…
E&E News
The Case that Could Change Climate Regulation as We Know It
E&E News cites Senior Fellow Mario Loyola on how Congress needs to use specific language when creating regulatory powers: But Mario Loyola, a senior…
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…
News Release
Constitutional Challenge to Trump Tax Repatriation Law to be Argued Tomorrow in Ninth Circuit
On Friday, January 14, the U.S. Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals will hear a constitutional challenge to a provision in the 2017 federal tax reform…
Blog
This Week’s Outrage (which Touches on Civil Asset Forfeiture)
Last month, The New York Times reported on the way that law enforcement officers take money from the rest of us. I’ve been alternately…
National Review
Unite and Get Ready to Fight
The Wall Street Journal recently ran one of those opinion pieces you know you’ll remember years later. In “The Impossible Insurrection of January…
Blog
The “Public Nuisance” Theory of Pharmaceutical Liability for the Opioids Crisis Is … a Public Nuisance
The jury in a federal court in Ohio has found three major pharmacy chains—CVS, Walmart, and Walgreens—liable for the opioids crisis in two plaintiff…
The Washington Examiner
The death of democracy
Repost: Michael Pack’s piece at the Washington Examiner, as part of their Restoring America Project I have witnessed the death…
National Review
Ending the Epidemic of Public-Nuisance Litigation
The opioid crisis has spawned a rash of litigation, with thousands of pending state and federal cases threatening to penalize legitimate prescription…
News Release
Court Blocks Enforcement of Biden/OSHA Vaccine Mandate Citing Serious Flaws
Statement by Devin Watkins, CEI attorney: “The Fifth Circuit’s decision to temporarily block enforcement of the OSHA vaccine mandate on Saturday is a win…
