The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Kentucky v. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit to tell the U.S. EPA that its new emissions rule—that effectively imposes a de facto electric-vehicle mandate—exceeds the agency’s Congressional authority. “Congress created the U.S. EPA to combat acute environmental health risks, not to run the U.S. automotive industry.” 

The Buckeye Institute joined the Cato Institute and the National Federation of Independent Business in filing an amicus brief in Leachco, Inc. v. Consumer Product Safety Commission, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and end the federal government’s use of unconstitutional in-house tribunals to harass and intimidate Americans. “Not only does the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s structure violate the Constitution, it violates any common understanding of fairness.”

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy memo outlining the failures of government-owned broadband networks (GON) and encouraging local governments to utilize public-private partnerships with cutting-edge technology companies to deploy adequate broadband for customers. The Buckeye Institute outlines how, for years, local governments have propped up GONs to provide internet service in their communities and how those efforts have failed, most recently in Bryan, Ohio.

The Buckeye Institute released a new policy memo urging lawmakers to help Ohioans struggling with debt and adopt policies to improve debt resolution options and increase “consumer access to all available debt management and settlement options.” Consumer debt is not “a generic one-size-fits-all problem with a one-size-fits-all solution. Debt repayment programs can and should vary,” and “well-tailored laws, rules, and oversight should ensure that debt resolution companies operate ethically and effectively.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Buffalo, NY v. Hyundai, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit to stop governments from misusing the courts to turn private businesses into ATMs to fund local government operations. “The cities’ claim that Hyundai should have anticipated criminals circumventing commonly used anti-theft measures and that those criminals would take to social media to encourage others to engage in criminal activity is preposterous.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in Goldstein v. Professional Staff Congress at City University of New York, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case and end laws that force public-sector employees to accept union representation that they didn’t ask for and do not want. In its brief, The Buckeye Institute argues that “labor peace” should not prevent Jewish professors from disassociating themselves from the government union and its antisemitic speech.

The Buckeye Institute filed its notice of appeal in Wos v. Cleveland—a class action lawsuit on behalf of all nonresidents of Cleveland who filed a municipal income tax return with the city and received their refund more than 90 days after filing their return. Ohio’s Eighth District Court of Appeals will hear the appeal.

The Buckeye Institute commented on the newly released jobs report from the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services, saying, “Another positive sign is the revisions to June’s report to show Ohio added 3,000 private-sector jobs rather than a loss of 12,000 private-sector jobs as initially reported. This positive revision to June’s report, in addition to the 3,400 new private-sector jobs added in July, reveals that Ohio’s summer is not as bad as initially feared.”

The Buckeye Institute filed an amicus brief in United States v. Ross, calling on the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit to stop the government from gaming the Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Act to avoid paying attorneys’ fee—as Congress intended—when the government loses in court. “The government cannot be allowed to seize someone’s property and then, when it realizes it is going to lose, ask the court to dismiss its case to avoid paying attorneys’ fees.”

The Buckeye Institute signed onto an amicus brief in Lackey v. Stinnie, calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect access to our legal system for all Americans. “Congress intended the awarding of attorneys’ fees to create incentives for lawyers to represent clients in cases vindicating important constitutional and statutory rights. And the government should not be allowed to evade paying attorneys’ fees by abandoning its claims after a plaintiff wins a preliminary injunction.”