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INSTITUTE FOR JUSTICE
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
July 19, 2001
Institute for Justice To Open State
Chapters
Goal is to Restrain State & Local Governments, Increase Individual
Freedom
Washington, D.C.-State and local governments across the nation can soon
expect to find potent new opposition to abuses of their power. The
Washington, D.C.-based Institute for Justice (IJ), now in its tenth year,
is launching a bold new plan that will substantially increase its impact
limiting the size and scope of government. IJ is launching state
chapters, the first of which will open this year in Arizona.
This initiative is the first of its kind among pro-freedom public interest
law firms employing grassroots, state-based tactics to expand on the
path-breaking work that its national headquarters does so well in federal
and state courts.
"The launch of our state chapters will enable IJ to expand from a
national organization into a truly nationwide public interest law
firm," said Chip
Mellor, the Institute for Justice's co-founder, president and general
counsel.
"IJ's state chapters represent the movement's first-ever strategic
effort to vindicate pro-freedom provisions of state constitutions,"
declared
Clint Bolick, the Institute's co-founder, vice president and new director
of state chapter development.
Since 1991, the Institute for Justice has compiled a remarkable record in
advancing the rule of law necessary for a free society. Over the
past two
years, a team comprised of IJ staffers, directors and supporters has
developed a model for state chapters that it is prepared to implement.
IJ's
state chapters:
* Will litigate cases in IJ's core mission areas-economic liberty, school
choice, private property rights and freedom of speech-on a more
localized basis, usually using state constitutional provisions in state
courts.
* Will litigate cases to expand freedom in other selected areas, such as
taxpayer actions and defending or challenging voter initiatives, depending
on opportunities that present themselves in the particular state or
region.
*
* Will advance IJ's mission areas in the media and in state regulatory
proceedings.
"State constitutions present numerous potential opportunities for
pro-freedom litigation-yet they have never realized their full
potential," Bolick said. "At the same time, many abuses of
individual rights are inflicted by state and local governments."
Several examples illustrate this vast state-level potential:
* States often have constitutional provisions that protect economic
liberty-individuals' right to earn an honest living. (IJ is
nationally recognized for its successes in this area of litigation.)
* State constitutions provide protections for private property rights. (IJ
is the only organization fighting the widespread practice of eminent
domain abuse-that is, the use of government power to take one person's
property and give it to a favored private party. The Institute's
state chapters will enable IJ to expand its work in this important area.)
* State constitutions provide more abundant vehicles for pro-freedom
litigation, particularly through taxpayer standing and actions for
declaratory judgments. In federal courts, taxpayers do not have
standing as taxpayers.
* State chapters can help in drafting voter initiatives and referenda to
maximize the chances for successful defense of pro-freedom initiatives
and can represent the drafters and beneficiaries when such initiatives
pass. Likewise, they can challenge initiatives that increase the power of
government and (without engaging in campaigning) can participate in public
education activities during the initiative campaigns.
The Institute for Justice plans to open its first chapter this fall in
Phoenix, Arizona. Because IJ's state chapters are a vital phase in
the Institute's development, the Institute for Justice has selected Clint
Bolick, IJ's co-founder, vice president and litigation director, to launch
the Arizona Institute for Justice. Clint will remain IJ vice
president and
will continue his national litigation responsibilities in school choice
and economic liberty from Phoenix. But his duties now will include
successfully launching IJ's first chapter, identifying talent, developing
litigation blueprints, creating the infrastructure for other chapters, and
helping to
train chapter staff. Clint's demonstrated ability to generate good
cases and to inspire and train new talent are perfectly suited to make
IJ's state
chapters a success. Because Clint will have responsibilities both
with the national headquarters and the Arizona chapter, and because the
chapter will also operate as a training center, the Institute for Justice
expects that the Arizona chapter will require a third attorney to serve as
director of
the chapter.
"IJ chose Phoenix and Arizona for several reasons," said Bolick.
"The support infrastructure is ideal. Phoenix is a major
business center in the
Southwest; it is both the governmental and media capital of Arizona, one
of the nation's fastest-growing states. The Institute has worked
closely with the Phoenix-based Goldwater Institute for many years.
It is an outstanding, well-respected public policy organization and has
expressed enthusiasm about working with an IJ state chapter. IJ has
a great deal of litigation
experience there: we successfully defended the Arizona scholarship
tax program in the Arizona Supreme Court; we are defending that same
program now against a federal constitutional challenge; and we are
challenging Arizona's
public election finance program in state court. Finally, we have
attracted high-quality pro bono assistance from top law firms in the
state."
The Arizona Institute for Justice also will act as a model and training
center for other IJ state chapters.
"We plan to open three additional chapters within the next two
years," said Mellor. "Having our Washington headquarters
litigating along with state chapters will make IJ a uniquely effective
advocate for liberty."
IJ state chapter offices will be comprised of at least two attorneys and a
full-time support staff member, backed by law clerks and volunteer lawyer
assistance. Fundraising will be handled at the national level with
chapter assistance; media will be coordinated through the headquarters
with the goal of eventually making the chapters self-sufficient in that
regard. Cases will be preliminarily approved by a chapter advisory
board, which will include prominent local allies and ultimately ratified
by IJ's Board of Directors.
Mellor concluded, "The leadership and staff of the Institute for
Justice are pioneers, with a sense of mission and adventure. But
they also possess the
seasoned experience to make this work. IJ is poised at an exciting
threshold, prepared to build on the foundation we have created in its
headquarters, but IJ will also sow the fruits of its investment in
training and outreach, branching out into state chapters that give it
additional means to achieve its goals."
The Institute for Justice is a libertarian public interest law firm.
Through strategic litigation, training, communications and outreach, the
Institute for Justice advances a rule of law under which individuals can
control their own destinies as free and responsible members of society.
It
litigates to secure economic liberty, school choice, private property
rights, freedom of speech and other vital individual liberties, and to
restore constitutional limits on the power of government. In
addition, it trains law students, lawyers and policy activists in the
tactics of public interest litigation to advance individual rights.
Through these activities
the Institute challenges the ideology of the welfare state and illustrates
and extends the benefits of freedom to those whose full enjoyment of
liberty
is denied by government. The Institute was founded in September 1991
by Mellor and Bolick.
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