Beyond the Brief
Hear about the cases, issues, and tactics advancing the fight for freedom—directly from the people on the front lines. Deep Dive with the Institute for Justice explores the legal theories, strategies, and methods IJ uses to bring about real world change, expanding individual liberty and ending abuses of government power. In each episode, host Melanie Hildreth talks with litigators, researchers, and activists to give listeners an in-depth, inside look at cutting-edge legal and policy issues—and how they affect the lives of ordinary Americans everywhere.
- Update frequency
- every 16 days
- Average duration
- 32 minutes
- Episodes
- 77
- Years Active
- 2019 - 2025
How Federal Agents Can Legally Take Your Money at the Airport
Law enforcement agencies routinely seize currency from travelers at airports using civil forfeiture—a legal process that allows agencies to take and keep property without ever charging owners with a …
00:23:03 |
Tue 08 Sep 2020
Did the Supreme Court Just Say States Have to Fund Religion?
When it handed down Espinoza v. MT Dept. of Revenue this summer, the U.S. Supreme Court added one more facet to a year that has already upended the status quo when it comes to education. In this epis…
00:33:00 |
Thu 20 Aug 2020
It’s Time to Fund Students, Not Systems
With an increasing number of parents desperately seeking educational alternatives for the upcoming school year, teachers’ unions and school districts are doubling down on the status quo. Worse, in ma…
00:42:56 |
Thu 13 Aug 2020
Can the Government Put Cameras on Your Property Without a Warrant?
Decades ago, the U.S. Supreme Court created the so-called Open Fields Doctrine. The result was an exception to 4th Amendment restrictions on the government’s ability to snoop on Americans. With a new…
00:20:18 |
Thu 06 Aug 2020
Court Strips Elderly Woman of Her Home and Ruins Her Life
After a tree fell on her house, IJ client Sarah Hohenberg’s journey through Memphis’ Environmental Court left her bankrupt, homeless, stripped of her possessions, and a fugitive from the law. We disc…
00:18:26 |
Mon 13 Jul 2020
Why Won’t the Supreme Court Hold Police Accountable?
This term the U.S. Supreme Court closely considered eight different petitions dealing with the controversial doctrine of qualified immunity. Ultimately, it denied them all. In this episode, we talk a…
00:21:25 |
Thu 18 Jun 2020
Can the Government Throw You Out of Work? (Not in Some States!)
With more Americans out of work than any time in recorded history, whether or not they will be able to earn a living is top of mind for many people. All too often, however, courts turn a blind eye to…
00:23:45 |
Thu 21 May 2020
Current Legal Challenges to COVID-19 Rules
We’ve all been watching the unprecedented situation with COVID-19 play out. At IJ, we have a particular interest in what’s happening in the law. This episode discusses the kinds of constitutional lit…
00:22:04 |
Thu 30 Apr 2020
When Can the Government Lock You in Your House? Quarantines and the Constitution
As we all deal with the many changes in day to day life brought about by the coronavirus pandemic, have you ever wondered just what the government has the power to do to protect public health and saf…
00:23:00 |
Fri 03 Apr 2020
How Government Officials Can Blow Up Your House with Grenades – and Get Away With It by Claiming Immunity
Listeners of the podcast who have also listened to IJ’s Short Circuit podcast are probably familiar with the concept of “qualified immunity.” In this episode, we talk about what the term means and ho…
00:26:03 |
Fri 06 Mar 2020
Stories from IJ’s Front Lines
Before he was IJ’s president, Scott Bullock spent 25 years as an IJ attorney. In this episode, he recounts his years in the trenches as a litigator, and the ways his cases and clients helped make him…
00:30:58 |
Mon 16 Dec 2019
Zoning, Excessive Fines and Other Hot Issues in the Law
We talk with the director of IJ’s Center for Judicial Engagement about a few of the issues the legal community is buzzing about at the moment.
00:22:43 |
Fri 22 Nov 2019
Law for Non-Lawyers – Due Process and Equal Protection
This discussion is a continuation of our foray into law for non-lawyers. Many people are familiar with the concepts of “due process” and “equal protection,” but where are they found in the Constituti…
00:31:52 |
Thu 14 Nov 2019
Law for Non-Lawyers – Standards of Review
What does it mean when courts apply “strict scrutiny” in their review of a law? Why do property, economic, and other vital liberties get only “rational basis” review? And why do these things matter t…
00:36:22 |
Tue 29 Oct 2019
Previewing IJ’s Next Case at the United States Supreme Court
Never heard the term “Blaine Amendments” before? The U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to hear IJ’s educational choice case Ezpinoza v. Montana Department of Revenue is likely to change that. In today’s …
00:26:37 |
Tue 17 Sep 2019
District Works: Improving a City From the Ground Up
When IJ Associate Director of Activism Brooke Fallon started talking to entrepreneurs in Washington, D.C., about their experience doing business in the District, she got an earful about the burdens a…
00:30:21 |
Tue 27 Aug 2019
Uses (and Misuses) of Amicus Briefs
IJ Senior Attorneys Robert McNamara and Paul Sherman discuss amicus briefs: what they are, where they came from, and how IJ—and others—use them for maximum impact.
00:37:51 |
Tue 27 Aug 2019
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