Case Status: Victory: All IRS subpoenas withdrawn
Hendrickson v. U.S.; Hart v. U.S.
CIR defended two authors who had published books that were critical of the IRS and US tax code after the IRS launched costly invasive investigations in response to their work...
Case Status: Victory
Lyle v. Warner Brothers Television Production
CIR filed an amicus brief urging California Supreme Court to overturn a ruling that discussion of sexual themes in writers' meetings for the television show 'Friends' created a hostile work environment and is not protected…
Case Status: Victory. University settled on terms favorable to student.
Hinkle v. Baker
In 2003, CIR represented Steven Hinkle, a student at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, who was dragged before a school tribunal and threatened with expulsion solely for exercising his right to free…
Gratz & Grutter: Further Reading on the Michigan Cases
Below are newspaper articles, journal articles, and web links for futher reading on the Michigan cases. Click on the headlines below to read the article. Bradley, Ed, Negative About Affirmative Action? 60 Minutes, CBS News,…
Case Status: Loss
Worth v. Jackson
CIR's challenge of employment goals and preferences for women and racial minorities at the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development...
Case Status: Victory
Boys Town v. SCSD
CIR victory helps DC community activists fight effort to silence them. One of the bedrock principles of democratic self-rule is that citizens have a constitutional right to speak out about matters of public concern --…
Case Status: Settled on favorable terms -- Defendants agreed to a judgement in Prof. Willand's favor.
Willand v. Alexander
CIR represented a Minnesota professor who was prohibted from saying anything that someone might find offensive after putting a poster of General George Custer on his office door and otherwise deviating from a politically correct…
Case Status: Victory
Perez v. Posse Comitatus
CIR defended Sachem Quality of Life, a non-profit community group designed to deal with the explosion of illegal immigration in the Farmingville area of Long Island after some local labor groups asserted the organization was…
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski v. Warren Hills R.S.D.
In 2001, CIR working together with New York law firm KMZRosenman filed a federal lawsuit on behalf of Thomas Sypniewski, a high-achieving senior at a Washington, N.J., public high school, after he was suspended for…
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: Q & A about the Sypniewskis' lawsuit
(answers can be attributed to Gerald Walpin, a partner at KMZ Rosenman in New York: August 8, 2001) Q: What is this lawsuit about? A: Tom Sypniewski, Jr., a senior at Warren Hills Regional High School…
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: The actual text of the "redneck" T-shirt
Top 10 Reasons you might be a Redneck Sports Fan if . . . 10. You’ve ever been shirtless at a freezing football game. 9. Your carpet used to be part of a football field.
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: Statement of Tom Sypniewski, Jr.
My name is Tom Sypniewski. I just graduated this month from Warren Hills High School in Washington – here in New Jersey. Graduation was a relief after what I’ve been through these last few months.
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: Demand letter on behalf of Thomas Sypniewski
May 29, 2001 Mr. Peter MerluzziSuperintendent of SchoolsWarren Hills Regional School District89 Bowerstown RoadWashington, New Jersey 07882 Dear Mr. Merluzzi: This firm has been retained by Thomas Sypniewski, Jr., and his family, as co-counsel with…
Sypniewski: Reply to the school's first response
June 4, 2001 James W. Broscious, Esq.Broscious, Glynn & Fischer, P.C.111 West Washington AvenueWashingron, New Jersey 07882 Re: Thomas Sypniewski Dear Mr. Broscious: I saw today your e-mail letter to me dated May 31, 2001,…
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: Statement of Adrianne Perez
My name is Adrianne Perez and I just want to add a little bit to what Tom and his mother said. I know the school says Tom’s T-shirt is offensive and could cause trouble, but…
Case Status: Victory. Plaintiff's motion to dismiss remaining claims was granted.
Sypniewski: Statement of Nancy Sypniewski
My name is Nancy Sypniewski and I’m here today because of what has happened to my son and my family. I want to tell you about what we’ve been through. My husband and I got…
Case Status: Court rejected rule on other grounds
Solid Waste Agency of Northern Cook County v. U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
The Center for Individual Rights submitted an amicus brief challenging an expansive interpretation of the Clean Water Act under the Commerce clause...
Case Status: Voluntarily dismissed
Mason Cathedral v. City of Boston
The Center for Individual Rights represented Mason Cathedral Church of God in Christ in a lawsuit claiming that the City of Boston violated the church's First Amendment rights when it removed federally funded counselors from…
Case Status: Victory. Defendant Compton's motion for Summary Judgment granted on August 31, 2000.
Affordable Housing Development Corp. v. Fresno
CIR won an important free speech victory in 2006 in its defense of California resident Travis Compton. Compton had been accused of federal housing discrimination by a low-income housing developer angry over Compton’s public comments…
Case Status: Loss. District court injunction granting "cease and desist" order affirmed by 6th Circuit. Supreme Court denied owner's petition to review D.C. Cir. ruling denying review of FCC procedures.
U.S. v. Szoka
CIR defended the owner of low power, non-commercial radio station, Grid Radio 96.9 FM in Cleveland, in “cease and desist” prosecution brought against it by Federal Communications Commission and represented it in a constitutional challenge…