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Legal Briefs

The Buckeye Institute Calls on Ohio Supreme Court to Foreclose Cuyahoga Co.’s Home Equity Theft Scheme

August 17, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its second amicus brief in Craig v. Cromes, calling on the Ohio Supreme Court to foreclose Cuyahoga County’s home equity theft scheme. “When Moses Cleaveland laid out the plat map more than 200 years ago for the property where the plaintiffs in this case would live, he would have understood that the government cannot pocket the profits from the sale of property seized to settle a tax debt.” 

The Buckeye Institute Calls on SCOTUS to Protect Americans from In-House Government Agency Tribunals

August 03, 2026

The Buckeye Institute joined New Civil Liberties Alliance and Americans for Prosperity Foundation in filing an amicus brief in U.S. Department of Labor v. Sun Valley Orchards, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect Americans from unconstitutional in-house government agency tribunals. “These in-house agency tribunals are a unique threat to civil liberties, acting as investigator, prosecutor, judge, and jury. Unsurprisingly, winning every time. This case offers the U.S. Supreme Court the opportunity to end the use of agency tribunals...” 

In SCOTUS Brief, The Buckeye Institute Argues Trademarks are Protected Under 5th Amendment

July 29, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Clemente Properties, Inc. v. Pierluisi-Urrutia, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell Puerto Rico it cannot profit off the likeness of baseball hall of famer Roberto Clemente without the permission of his family, and that intellectual property—trademarks specifically—are protected as property under the Fifth Amendment’s takings clause.

The Buckeye Institute Takes Home Distilling Case to SCOTUS

July 20, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its petition for writ of certiorari with the U.S. Supreme Court in Ream v. U.S. Department of Treasury—one of Buckeye’s cases challenging the federal ban on home distilling. Buckeye argues that two federal courts—the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit in Ream and the Fifth Circuit in Buckeye’s other home distilling case—McNutt v. U.S. Department of Justice—considered the exact same provisions and issued opposite opinions, setting up a compelling circuit split that only the U.S. Supreme Court can resolve.

The Buckeye Institute Calls on SCOTUS to End Abuse of Qualified Immunity

July 16, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Hershey v. Bossier City, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and tell government officials they cannot hide behind qualified immunity to protect them from the consequences of violating the First Amendment. “Government officials who threaten a man for peacefully distributing literature on a public sidewalk should not receive the same qualified-immunity protection as a police officer’s split-second, life-or-death decisions.” 

The Buckeye Institute Takes 3rd Union Wage Theft Case to Ohio Supreme Court

July 08, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its brief asking the Ohio Supreme Court to accept jurisdiction in DuPuis v. AFSCME, and either hold it pending the court’s decision in Sheldon v. OAPSE or consolidate it with Sheldon—one of The Buckeye Institute’s other cases seeking to end union wage theft practices that is pending Ohio Supreme Court review. “In Sheldon, Vanderveer, and DuPuis, only the Ohio Supreme Court can decide whether Ohio’s courthouse doors are open to Ohioans wishing to bring cases to stop union wage theft.” 

The Buckeye Institute Calls on SCOTUS to Overturn Stinson, Restore Congressional Authority

July 07, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its amicus brief in Beaird v. United States, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to overturn Stinson v. United States and restore the limits Congress placed on the U.S. Sentencing Commission. In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that the court should eliminate Stinson deference, which has elevated the commentary portion of the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines to the equivalent of binding law, something Congress did not authorize.

The Buckeye Institute Urges SCOTUS to End Federal Surveillance of Small Business Owners Once and For All

June 15, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its fifth amicus brief in Texas Top Cop Shop v. Blanche, urging the U.S. Supreme Court to grant review and combine this case with National Small Business United v. Bessent, and overturn the Corporate Transparency Act—an Orwellian federal surveillance program of small businesses. “The Corporate Transparency Act is a sweeping, ill-advised, and misleadingly-named law that gives the federal government power to collect private information on small business owners.”

The Buckeye Institute Files Brief with Ohio Supreme Court in Union Wage Theft Case

June 09, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed its merit brief in Sheldon v. Ohio Association of Public School Employees (OAPSE), calling on the Ohio Supreme Court to open Ohio’s courthouse doors to Ohioans fighting to end union wage theft. The Buckeye Institute was supported in its case by several nationally recognized public policy and legal groups that filed briefs in favor of Buckeye’s client, Matthew Sheldon.

The Buckeye Institute Calls on SCOTUS to Rein In Government Speech Doctrine

June 01, 2026

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Khatibi v. Lawson, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to tell California that medical professionals do not relinquish their First Amendment rights when the state licenses them. “The state of California has a right to ensure doctors and other medical professionals are qualified to do their jobs. It does not have the right to force these professionals to parrot the government’s position on controversial topics.”