The Institute for Justice is the nation’s only libertarian public interest law firm.  Per their web site:

…we engage in cutting-edge litigation and advocacy both in the courts of law and in the court of public opinion on behalf of individuals whose most basic rights are denied by the government–like the right to earn an honest living, private property rights, and the right to free speech, especially in the areas of commercial and Internet speech.

IJ produces great videos that educate the public regarding issues threatening individual liberties.  One of our favorites focused on civil asset forfeitures.

Illustrating the absurdity of certain government regulations is another effective IJ advocacy front.  Check out this video that asks Can the Government Make Entrepreneurs Do Useless Things For No Reason?

Courtroom cronyism is certainly a frequent factor in the abusive probate cases discussed here at Estate of Denial^® .  EconomicFreedom.org describes cronyism as follows:

Cronyism occurs when an individual or organization colludes with government officials to get forced benefits they could not have otherwise obtained voluntarily. Those benefits come at the expense of consumers, taxpayers, and everyone working hard to compete in the marketplace.

Sound familiar?  Sadly, that description fits increasing numbers of scenarios/situations that we follow.

This video gives additional perspective.  It features Professors Don Boudreaux (George Mason University), Susan Dudley (George Washington University) and Bradley Schiller (University of Nevada-Reno) discussing  the causes and solutions to Cronyism in America.

Thanks to our friends at Ramparts360 for tipping us off to this video!

Walter Olson at the Cato Institute is always a great source of interesting content related to the legal industry or legal venues.  Today is no exception as he uses a post One Way to Get Around Courtroom Camera Ban to highlight an Ohio television station’s clever approach to covering the federal racketeering trial of former Cuyahoga County Commissioner Jimmy Dimora.

Local rules prohibit courtroom cameras so WOIO 19 Action News is recreating court transcripts “actual, word for word” in a series called The Puppet’s Court.

Click here for background on the case against Jimmy Dimora.

Not like every level of government can’t offer corruption opportunities, but it so seems to thrive at the county level!  With that, it comes as no surprise when the county impedes government transparency and further provides additional taxpayer disservice by prohibiting courtroom cameras.

But congrats to 19 Action News for not being deterred and finding a way to attract even more attention to a case of public corruption about which their audience has every right to know.

A recently-release video discusses economic freedom – how it’s faring today in the U.S. and how we’re measuring up to other countries.  Here’s the video’s description:

For years the United States has been a world leader in economic freedom. But runaway government spending and burdensome regulations have caused a decline in economic freedom in the United States. If our economic freedom continues to fall, how will it affect our quality of life?

Estate abuse is a major affront to economic freedom.  As the U.S. sees continual decline in this area, our property rights will continue to erode and assaults to remaining rights via abusive probate actions using wills, trusts, guardianships or powers of attorney aren’t likely to subside.

Here is the initial Economic Freedom and Quality of Life video that introduced this topic:

At Estate of Denial™, we are big fans of John Stossel.  His columns and broadcasts are great and we’ve enjoyed seeing him speak at Americans for Prosperity Foundation events.  Stossel’s perspective on the legal industry reflects exactly what we often see with regard to inheritance rights issues and probate abuse cases.  This video from a recent Stossel broadcast entitled Life Without Lawyers touches on many aspects of legal abuse which EoD readers will likely find of interest.