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Institute for Justice
| Institute for Justice | |
 | |
| President: | Scott Bullock |
| Chairman: | William H. "Chip" Mellor |
| Year created: | 1991 |
| Website: | http://www.ij.org |
The Institute for Justice (IJ) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit libertarian public interest law firm. Their website says they are "the national civil liberties law firm that represents everyday people... when the government violates their most important constitutional rights."[1]
History
The Institute was founded in 1991 by William "Chip" Mellor and Clint Bolick.[2] As of August 2025, IJ's website, their mission is to " end widespread abuses of government power and secure the constitutional rights that allow all Americans to pursue their dreams."[3]
Leadership
As of August 2025, the Institute for Justice's website listed the following as leadership and board of director members:[4][5]
Leadership
- Dana Berliner, senior vice president and litigation director
- Scott G. Bullock, president and chief counsel
- Bert Gall, managing vice president and senior attorney
- Daniel Knepper, CFO and general counsel
- Deborah Simpson, chief operating officer
Board of directors
- Jim Lintott, chairman and principal, Freedom Management Group LLC
- Scott G. Bullock, president and chief counsel, Institute for Justice
- Arthur Dantchik, managing director, Susquehanna Investment Group
- Bob Gelfond, CEO and founder, MagiQ Technologies, Inc.
- Lawrence Greenberg
- Kenneth N. Levy
- Stephen Modzelewski
- Andrew D. Prins
- Tara Smith
Work and activities
Legal activities
As of August 2025, the Institute for Justice's website said the following:[1]
| “ |
IJ believes that all people have the right to earn an honest living in the occupation of their choice without arbitrary, unnecessary, or protectionist government interference.
IJ defends the right of all Americans to own and enjoy their property free from unjust seizures, searches, and fines.
IJ fights for the right to speak freely about the issues that matter most to ordinary people and to defend the free flow of information essential to democratic government and free enterprise.
IJ stands for the idea that every child deserves a chance at a great education and that all parents, regardless of means, should enjoy the freedom to direct their children’s education.[6] |
” |
The Institute has been involved in numerous cases, including school choice lawsuits in Cleveland, Milwaukee, Arizona, and Florida. They have also been closely involved in eminent domain lawsuits, including Coking vs. C.R.D.A, in which they defended the right of Vera Coking to stay in her home despite the intent of Donald Trump to use her land for a parking lot, and the landmark eminent domain lawsuit of Kelo v. City of New London, winning the former and losing the latter. They were also involved with the interstate wine sales case of Granholm v. Heald/Swedenburg v. Kelly.[7]
Finances
The following is a breakdown of the Institute for Justice's revenues and expenses from 2015 to 2024. The information comes from ProPublica
| Year | Revenue | Expenses |
|---|---|---|
| 2015 | $34,123,923 | $18,109,041 |
| 2016 | $27,833,961 | $19,123,463 |
| 2017 | $25,656,698 | $22,312,263 |
| 2018 | $25,844,652 | $23,864,236 |
| 2019 | $24,164,577 | $23,472,351 |
| 2020 | $35,215,327 | $26,333,259 |
| 2021 | $37,879,934 | $29,193,641 |
| 2022 | $38,984,471 | $33,233,789 |
| 2023 | $38,753,383 | $37,733,069 |
| 2024 | $49,926,462 | $44,264,308 |
Recent news
The link below is to the most recent stories in a Google news search for "Institute + for + Justice"
- All stories may not be relevant to this organization due to the nature of the search engine.
See also
External links
- Social media:
- Financial:
- Media appearances:
- Media coverage:
Footnotes
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 Institute for Justice, "Homepage," accessed August 4, 2025
- ↑ The New York Times, "The Unregulated Offensive," April 17, 2005
- ↑ Institute for Justice, "About IJ," accessed August 4, 2025
- ↑ Institute of Justice website, "The IJ Team," accessed August 4, 2025
- ↑ Institute for Justice, "Directors," accessed August 4, 2025
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ ij.orf, "IJ at a glance," accessed December 10, 2013
