Denouncing the government’s confiscation of agricultural crops as feudalistic theft, The Rutherford Institute is urging the U.S. Supreme Court to strike down a Depression-era government program requiring raisin producers to surrender a substantial portion of their crop, in some years almost one-half, to the government without any guarantee or promise of payment.

The Rutherford Institute has joined with the ACLU, Wikipedia, Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers and other educational, legal, human rights and media organizations to file a major First and Fourth Amendment lawsuit against the National Security Agency (NSA), the U.S. Department of Justice and their directors over the government’s mass surveillance campaigns.

Pointing out that individuals awaiting trial (pretrial detainees) are particularly vulnerable to government abuse and should not be forced to prove that their alleged abusers intended to harm them in order to claim their rights were violated, attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have asked the U.S. Supreme Court to remove restrictions some courts have imposed on civil rights lawsuits for excessive force by inmates against jail personnel, thereby discouraging the use of excessive force by prison officials.

In a resounding win for the First Amendment, a federal court judge has granted The Rutherford Institute’s request for a permanent injunction against the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority (WMATA) barring Metro officials from preventing guitarist Alex Young from engaging in “busking,” or performing in public places for tips, near DC-area Metro stations.

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute have asked a federal court to reject a request by health officials to dismiss a Fourth Amendment lawsuit filed on behalf of a 37-year-old disabled man who was wrongfully arrested, strip searched, handcuffed to a table, diagnosed as having “mental health issues,” apparently because of his slurred speech and unsteady gait, and subsequently locked up for five days in a mental health facility against his will and with no access to family and friends.

Weighing in on a case that pits government attempts at censorship against expression protected by the First Amendment, The Rutherford Institute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to affirm that specialty license plates are private speech which may not be censored on the basis of viewpoint.

Citing a fundamental right to privacy, travel and association, The Rutherford Institute has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to prohibit police from gaining unfettered access to motel and hotel guest registries.

Attorneys for The Rutherford Institute will present oral argument in Raub v. Campbell before the U.S. Court of  Appeals for the Fourth Circuit on Jan. 28, 2015, asking the court to reinstate the lawsuit of a decorated Marine who was seized by a swarm of Secret Service, FBI and local police officials and involuntary committed for a week because of controversial song lyrics and political views he posted on his Facebook page.

At the urging of attorneys for The Rutherford Institute, a federal court has ordered a community college to cease its censorship and allow two social activists to hand out what might be perceived as “politically incorrect” informational flyers on campus.

In a 7-2 ruling in Department of Homeland Security v. MacLean, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected the federal government’s attempts to eviscerate protections for employee speech under the Whistleblower Protection Act (WPA).

In a strong endorsement of religious liberty, the United States Supreme Court has unanimously held that the Arkansas Department of Corrections violated the rights of a Muslim prisoner by refusing to allow him to grow a short beard in accordance with his religious beliefs.

After being contacted by attorneys with The Rutherford Institute, officials with the Greene County Public Schools have agreed to rescind the suspension of a four-year-old preschool student who, after allegedly acting up in class, was handcuffed and shackled by a school resource officer and transported to the sheriff’s office.