Timeline
CIR's congressional authority cases have reined in the power power of the federal government and restored principles of limited government that the founders had always intended and the courts have often ignored.
May 2000
U.S. v. Morrison
The Center for Individual Rights won a landmark legal victory, limiting Congress' authority under the Commerce Clause, which for decades the courts had expanded ever more broadly, until there was seemingly nothing that Congress could not do. CIR defended a student athlete in a civil suit against ill-founded charges of rape, filed under the unconstitutional Violence Against Women Act.
Aug 2014
U.S. v. Miller
CIR represented Kathryn Miller, an Amish woman who was charged under federal hate crime legislation for participating in the forcible cutting of an Amish man's beard. CIR challenged the authority of the Congress to enact and enforce civil laws that were the traditional duty of the states.
Jul 2000
Burgess v. Cahall
CIR filed a lawsuit challenging the Violence Against Women Act, which was a gross overreach of Congressional power under the commerce clause. The case was dismissed when the Court overturned VAWA in U.S. v, Morrison
Past Cases
Case Status: Case resolved on other grounds
U.S. v. Miller
August 16th 2012CIR is representing Kathryn Miller, an Amish woman appealing her conviction for the federal "hate crime" of participating in the forcible cutting of the beards and hair of other Amish for religious reasons. CIR contends that Congress lacks the authority under the Commerce Clause to prosecute purely instate conduct (such as assault) unless the crime involves some connection with interstate commerce...
Case Status: Victory. After CIR's victory in U.S. v. Morrision, complaint dismissed on July 18, 2000.
Burgess v. Cahall
February 29th 2000Successfully defended a company official against charges of sexual harassment. Challenging 1994 Violence Against Women Act as unconstitutional...
Case Status: Victory. Morrison is one of the defining Commerce Clause precedents of the decade.
U.S. v. Morrison
July 26th 1996CIR defended a student athlete in a civil suit against ill-founded charges of rape. The case successfully challenged portions of 1994 Violence Against Women Act as unconstitutional exercise of Congress's authority under the Commerce Clause and Section 5 of the Fourteenth Amendment...
