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
Eight Groups Support Supreme Court Consideration of Moore v. United States
The Moores’ Supreme Court challenge to an unprecedented tax—a tax which the government labels a income tax, but is actually a property tax—received a…
Blog
Are Administrative Law Courts More Trouble Than They’re Worth?
As touched upon in an earlier piece, administrative law courts (ALCs) are a threat to the separation of powers, in which the executive branch…
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…
Studies
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…
“They’re Taking My Stuff!”
What You Need to Know about Seizure and 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…
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…
New Hampshire Civil Forfeiture Would Protect Private Property from Unjust Seizure
Several state legislators in New Hampshire will consider a major change in criminal justice policy later today. The House Committee on Criminal Justice and Public…
News
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…
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…
CEI Releases Pro-Growth Regulatory Reform Agenda for the 118th Congress
Today the Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI) offered a set of important policy reforms for the 118th Congress to consider when it convenes in…
Op-Eds
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…
Reason
Photos Show the Transformation of Great Britain
Not so long ago, Great Britain was deemed “the sick man of Europe.” The 1970s were plagued by inflation, labor union strikes, and a rise…
