The Buckeye Institute filed its response to the federal government’s appeal on a key issue in The Buckeye Institute v. Internal Revenue Service—one of the most important First Amendment cases in the country. This case challenges a decades-old tax law forcing nonprofit charities like The Buckeye Institute to hand over the private information (names and addresses) of donors to the federal government every year. The Buckeye Institute is represented in this case by its own in-house attorneys and the Institute for Free Speech.

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in National Rifle Association v. Vullo, 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. “Superintendent Vullo’s premeditated bad-faith attack on the First Amendment does not deserve the same protections as police officers making split-second, life-and-death decisions.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in B.A. v. Tri County Area Schools, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to hear the case en banc (by the full court), reverse the three-judge panel’s ill-advised decision, and tell Tri County Area Schools that their students’ political speech—even when expressed on a Let’s Go Brandon shirt—is protected by the First Amendment.

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Gun Owners of America v. ATF, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit to uphold the Freedom of Information Act and reverse the lower court’s ill-advised ruling restricting the use of public documents, something the FOIA law does not allow. “In the lower court’s ruling, the court has given itself a new power to create a new governmental right under the Freedom of Information Act that does not exist and that Congress did not authorize.” 

The Buckeye Institute filed an important amicus brief in Columbus City School District v. State of Ohio, calling on Ohio’s 10th District Court of Appeals to protect school choice for parents and students who have benefited from voucher programs and those who will benefit from them in the future. “School choice is being threatened by a coalition of disgruntled and self-interested districts that previously tried and failed to end Ohio’s groundbreaking Cleveland Scholarship and Tutoring Program.”

The Buckeye Institute filed its appeal brief in Vanderveer v. OAPSE with Ohio’s Sixth District Court of Appeals, calling on the court to reverse the lower court’s dismissal of the case and end the union’s wage theft practices. The Buckeye Institute represents Katrina Vanderveer of Wauseon, Ohio, in Vanderveer v. OAPSE—one of several union wage theft cases brought by The Buckeye Institute. This case will decide “whether the courthouse doors are open to Mrs. Vanderveer—and other Ohioans...”

The Buckeye Institute appealed Kresevic v. Kimmel to Ohio’s Ninth District Court of Appeals on behalf of Buckeye’s client Karen Kresevic, urging the court to rein in local governments that continue to take income taxes from Ohioans illegally. In its appeal, The Buckeye Institute argues that the trial court erred in its decision to dismiss the case and that the city of Akron stretched the law in breach of its own tax ordinances and forms.

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in McGee v. Alger County Treasurer, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and protect homeowners from Michigan’s unconstitutional violation of the Fifth Amendment. The Manhattan Institute and the National Federation of Independent Business Small Business Legal Center joined The Buckeye Institute in filing the brief. “The Fifth Amendment’s just compensation requirement is categorical. When the government takes property, it must pay for it.”

The Buckeye Institute joined the Washington Legal Foundation in filing an amicus brief in Ohio Telecom Association v. Federal Communications Commission (FCC), calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit to hear the case en banc and affirm congressional authority over federal rulemaking. “The FCC has ignored congressional authority in proposing a nearly identical rule to one Congress already scrapped using the Congressional Rule Act process.” The NFIB Small Business Legal Center also joined the brief.

The Buckeye Institute joined the Institute for Justice (IJ) in filing an amicus brief with the Ohio Supreme Court in Havel v. Board of Zoning Appeals, Kent, Ohio, calling on the court to protect property owners and strike down Kent’s unconstitutional zoning restrictions. In their brief, The Buckeye Institute and IJ cite numerous cases, including Norwood v. Horney, to argue that private property rights are fundamental rights and interference with those rights must receive meaningful scrutiny from Ohio courts.