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32 cases on the table
Civil asset forfeiture
Police can seize cash, a car, or a house because they say the property was tied to a crime, even if the owner is never charged. The lawsuit is filed against the thing itself — a ca…
Eminent domain for private development
A city can force you to sell your home, pay you “just compensation,” and hand the land to a private developer if a redevelopment plan claims the project will raise tax revenue or c…
Carried interest
Private-equity and hedge-fund managers are often paid a share of profits — the “carry” — and, if holding-period rules are met, that pay is taxed at long-term capital-gains rates in…
Step-up in basis at death
If you buy stock at $10 and die when it is worth $100, your heirs generally take a new tax basis of $100. The $90 gain is never taxed as income.…
Like-kind exchanges
An investor can sell a rental building and roll the proceeds into another investment property without paying capital-gains tax at the time of the sale, if strict timelines are met.…
Opportunity zone deferral
Investors can defer and sometimes reduce tax on prior capital gains by parking those gains in a qualified opportunity fund aimed at designated census tracts.…
Dynasty trusts
In states that abolished the rule against perpetuities, a family can park assets in a trust designed to last for centuries, skipping estate tax at each generation.…
Forced arbitration clauses
By clicking “I agree” or taking a job, you often waive the right to sue in court and the right to join a class action. Disputes go to a private arbitrator, frequently under rules w…
At-will firing
In every U.S. state except Montana, an employer can generally fire a worker for a good reason, a bad reason, or no stated reason, as long as the reason is not illegal.…
The tipped subminimum wage
Federal law lets employers pay tipped workers a cash wage of $2.13 an hour if tips bring them to the full minimum. The employer is supposed to make up any shortfall.…
Triple-digit payday loans
A two-week loan with a $15 fee per $100 works out to an annual percentage rate around 400 percent. In states without a strict cap, that loan is a licensed product.…
Rent-to-own markups
Rent-to-own stores lease a television or appliance week to week. If the customer completes every payment, the total often runs two or three times a cash retail price. Default, and …
Selling your dossier
Data brokers assemble addresses, purchases, inferred health interests, and location trails, then sell them. No relationship with you is required.…
Dark patterns that stop short of fraud
Companies design confirm-shaming, hidden cancel paths, and pre-checked add-ons. Some of those designs are now illegal. Many remain lawful if they do not cross into deception.…
Partisan gerrymandering
The party that draws legislative maps can pack and crack the other party’s voters so a minority of votes produces a majority of seats.…
Dark-money election spending
A nonprofit can run ads about a candidate, and the donors who funded the ads often never appear on a public report.…
The revolving door
A regulator or member of Congress can leave office and, after a cooling-off period that is often short, lobby former colleagues or advise the industry they oversaw.…
Qualified immunity
A person can sue an officer for a constitutional violation and still lose, because no prior case with nearly the same facts clearly established the right.…
Plea-bargain leverage
Prosecutors can stack charges so the sentence after trial is many times the sentence offered for a guilty plea. The vast majority of convictions never see a jury.…
Commercial bail bonds
In most states a defendant can pay a bail bondsman a nonrefundable fee, often 10 percent, and the bondsman posts the full bail. The fee is gone even if the defendant is acquitted.…
Price spikes where no statute applies
After a storm, a seller triples the price of bottled water or a generator. If the state has not declared an emergency, or has no price-gouging law, the spike can be lawful.…
Open-market stock buybacks
A corporation can spend billions buying its own shares, lifting earnings per share and, often, executive pay tied to the stock. Since 1982 a safe harbor has made the practice routi…
Patent assertion entities
A company that makes nothing can own a patent and demand license fees from businesses that do, pricing the demand just below the cost of a court fight.…
Copyright terms that outlive the author
A work created today by a company can remain under copyright for 95 years. Works by individuals last for the author’s life plus 70 years. The public domain waits.…
Customary farming exemptions
Many state animal-cruelty laws exempt standard agricultural practices. Confining egg-laying hens, gestation crates, and debeaking can be lawful because they are usual in the indust…
Prior appropriation of water
In much of the western United States, the oldest water right wins. A senior right can keep diverting while a river, and the people and fish downstream, go dry.…
Homeowner-association power
An HOA can fine you for a paint color, restrict a garden, and in many states place a lien and foreclose for unpaid assessments — sometimes even when the mortgage is current.…
Recording a call without telling the other person
In most states, a person who is on a phone call can record it without telling the other person. In a minority of states, that secret recording is a crime.…
Multilevel marketing above the pyramid line
Companies can pay commissions up many levels of recruiters, as long as the operation is built on real retail sales rather than on paying people mainly for recruiting.…
Dual agency in a home sale
In many states a single brokerage can represent both the buyer and the seller in the same deal, if both consent. The agent cannot fully advise either side.…
Shrinkflation
A maker can reduce the chips in the bag or the sheets on the roll and keep the package looking the same, if the net quantity on the label is accurate.…
Lawsuits meant to silence
A deep-pocketed plaintiff can sue a critic for defamation knowing the case is weak, because the cost of defending will make the critic quit. Some states dismiss these cases early. …