April 5, 2016

The Supreme Court's continuing immunity crusade

fromReason: For cops, that is.
Police State America

Assange works for the people – now we need to save him

fromReason: Julian Assange has been silenced again. With the Cambridge Analytica story dominating the news, it seems some powerful people have reasons to keep the brave WikiLeaks boss quiet right now.
Indoctrination and Censorship      Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Congress should stop ‘policing for profit’

fromOCRegister: For decades, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies have been free to seize the property of Americans without so much as bringing criminal charges.
Police State America     The Government is Not Us

“The most successful deception since the Department of War became the Department of Defense”

fromTheLibertyConservative: NSA whistleblower Edward Snowden is calling out Mark Zuckerberg and his social media company Facebook for their surveillance activities throughout the world.
Indoctrination and Censorship 

The ‘nice girl’ who saved the Second Amendment

fromNationalReview: “For me, trust in the common man is such a basic principle. Few governments actually allow it. They want to keep their people vulnerable and disarmed.”
2nd Amendment Assaults

The Cafe Con Leche Index: Venezuelan price inflation hits 6567%

fromReason: Cafe Con Leche Index tracks just one item: a cup of coffee at a bakery in eastern Caracas. Its price has jumped to 120,000 bolivars from 1,800 bolivars over the past 12 months.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

March 6, 2018

The awful Supreme Court precedent that helped create today's asset forfeiture nightmare

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Tucker explains how politicians in California and Chicago have devised tactics to register illegal aliens as a central feature of their electoral strategy.
The Government is Not Us       Police State America     Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: Tucker Carlson - The Illegal Alien Voter Drive

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: Tucker explains how politicians in California and Chicago have devised tactics to register illegal aliens as a central feature of their electoral strategy.
The Government is Not Us       Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

EU looks to familiar playbook to hit back at Trump plan

fromTheWallStreeJournal: The European Commission will review an approach that led then-President George W. Bush to remove tariffs in previous dispute.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

State legislatures have a duty to protect free speech at public universities

fromForbes: If state action is deemed “unnecessary” to protect free speech--one of our most cherished civil liberties, if not the most cherished civil liberty—then one is hard-pressed to explain when it is ever necessary.
Indoctrination and Censorship    Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

84yo Holocaust Survivor abused by TSA draws ominous parallel with her time in Auschwitz

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: An 84-year-old grandmother and holocaust survivor says her treatment by the TSA was so bad that even though she survived Auschwitz, she barely survived the TSA.
The Government is Not Us       Police State America      Regulation Nation

Trump's impulsive trade war is lousy economics and worrisome politics

fromReason: President's hasty new "trade war" will damage the American economy while continuing his process 
of removing tariff-reduction from two-party politics.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

December 7, 2017

House Republicans prepare contempt action against FBI, DOJ

from Bloomberg: The Deep State is being challenged at last. What will happen when push comes to shove?
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Supreme Court asked to stop warrantless searches of vehicles parked on private residential property

from Rutherford Institute: The Rutherford Institute has asked the Supreme Court to prohibit police from entering private residential property uninvited and without a warrant, in order to search a vehicle parked a few feet from the house.
Police State America

Wisconsin court affirms mom's conviction for swearing at son, without deciding First Amendment issue 

from Journal Sentinel: The last count was for profanely berating and insulting her 14-year-old son after he burned some popcorn. The boy had been talking to a friend at the time, who heard the tirade over the phone.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Anti-white bigotry on the rise in college newspapers 

from TheNewAmerican: Bigotry against blacks would never be given an outlet in a college newspaper. Neither should bigotry against whites — or anyone else.
Indoctrination and Censorship   Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Swat-style raid over tea leaves headed to court 

from USNews: Whether police lied about testing discarded tea leaves found in a Kansas couple's trash to get permission for a SWAT-style raid is the focus of a federal trial.
Police State America

Ex-coach cited malnutrition for poor performance by Venezuela’s national women’s soccer team

from Dangerous: The Venezuelan Soccer Federation claims that the under-20s national women’s soccer team was “largely insulated” from the country's food crisis, where citizens have been forced to raise pet rabbits for food, and even hunt flamingos.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

December 4, 2017

Cops steal $91,800 from a musician, claiming he gave it to them

from Reason: Wyoming's roadside waivers are a thin disguise for highway robbery.
Police State America

Activists arrested in Atlanta for feeding homeless without a permit before Thanksgiving

from ActivistPost: Feeding the hungry without paying politicians for the privilege.
The Government is Not Us   Regulation Nation

Supreme Court could legalize sports betting nationwide

from DailyCaller: As a result of a challenge from New Jersey — home of gambling Mecca Atlantic City — the court could overturn the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act and allow sports betting in most states.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Four camera surveillance PODS coming to a city near you

from MassPrivatei: Welcome to Police State America, where one camera surveillance system is never enough.
Police State America   Government is Watching Every Move You Make

CNN calls for banning the term ‘fake news’

from DownTrend: In a related story, medicine show operators are calling to ban the term "snake oil salesman".
Media Bias on Parade

VIDEO: William F Buckley Jr - Newt Gingrich: A Debate on the Legalization of Drugs

from LibertyPen/YouTube: (1990) Excerpts from: A Firing Line Debate: Resolved: That Drugs Should Be Legalized. Also in the debate: Richard Dennis, Ira Glasser, Robert W. Sweet, Pat Schroeder, Charles B. Rangel, and, William von Raab.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 29, 2017

Supreme court cellphone case puts free speech – not just privacy – at risk 

from Guardian: Carpenter v United States has rightly prompted concerns over surveillance. But it could also have drastic implications for personal freedom in the digital age.
Government is Watching Every Move You Make

This awful SCOTUS decision helped create today's civil asset forfeiture racket

from Reason: Bennis v. Michigan should be overruled.
Police State America   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Teachers attend 'LGGBDTTTIQQAAP' sensitivity training (WTF?)

from PJMedia: The alphabet soup of PC gender nitwittery in Canada.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Nervous about traffic stops? I am. You should be too 

from Rutherford Institute: We’ve all been there before. You’re driving along and you see a pair of flashing blue lights in your rearview mirror. Whether or not you’ve done anything wrong, you get a sinking feeling in your stomach.
Police State America 

The real reason the media pushes “sexual liberation”

from The Daily Bell: When you pursue personal liberation, individual freedom, your life will only improve, right up until your last moments on this Earth. When you pursue so-called sexual liberation, your prospects of happiness decay day by day.
The Pursuit of Happiness

State courts say early-morning pot raids were gratuitous and illegal

from Reason: These cases show how blithely drug warriors resort to terrifying and potentially deadly tactics in response to "crimes" that violate no one's rights, even when safer alternatives are readily available.
Police State America   The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

November 17, 2017

Asset forfeiture gone wild: after pot raids, cops legally steal 7 houses

from High Times: Michigan cops seize the homes of seven medical marijuana patients. In practice, asset forfeiture (legalized theft) has become an irreplaceable (even though immoral) revenue stream for American law enforcement officers.
Police State America

Supreme Court abortion case could promote free speech by both sides

from USA Today: California idiocy goes to trial. Red states might have to stop requiring advice some consider propaganda. And pro or con, both sides could end up having to trust women more.
Indoctrination and Censorship   The Government is Not Us

The state of street-level surveillance

from EFF: EFF’s “Street-Level Surveillance” project shines light on the advanced surveillance technologies that law enforcement agencies routinely deploy in our communities.
Police State America   Government is Watching Every Move You Make

Tighter gun laws will leave libertarians better-armed than everybody else

from Reason: In a politically polarized America, gun control is destined to be obeyed primarily by its advocates.
2nd Amendment Assaults

California mandates send electricity prices skyrocketing, but Texas free market policies keeps prices low

from Fox News: In 2017, Californians paid almost double – 86 percent more – to keep the lights on and run manufacturing than did Texans.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Jury acquits ‘nice guy’ who admitted selling cannabis to a cop

from Leafly: The Declaration of Independence states that America exists to produce a government that will protect life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. The pursuit of happiness implies self-determination so long as it does not intrude on the rights of others. Gambling, drugs and prostitution are all pursuits of happiness and should be nullified by a jury.
The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange   Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Justice Is A Result, Not Just A Process

Latest Update: July 29, 2017

Jurors have power to judge evidence and the law itself
Senators from the right and the left come together for criminal justice reform

Civil asset forfeiture: where due process goes to die

Jurors convict man for informing jurors about jury nullification

Trial begins for man accused of spreading the word about jury nullification

When they nullify the law, jurors are just doing their jobs

A law professor explains why if you are innocent, you should NOT talk to police 

•VIDEO: Jury Nullification - The Law You Won't Be Told

Andrew Napolitano - The President and The Courts

Last week, in a public courtroom in the federal courthouse in Seattle, the states of Washington and Minnesota — after suing President Donald Trump, alleging injury caused by his executive order that suspended the immigration of all people from seven foreign countries — asked a federal judge to compel the president and all those who work for him to cease enforcing the order immediately. After a brief emergency oral argument, the judge signed a temporary restraining order,  ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Football and Fallacies

This is a football story with both political and legal implications.

It was fourth down in a National Football League game, and the punting team came onto the field. The other team went into their formation to defend against the punt. Then somebody noticed that the man set to kick the punt was black.  ... MORE

🌟 Jim Cardoza: Four Compelling Reasons to Vote for Donald Trump

Limits To President Obama's Executive Order Authority

by Andrew Napolitano.      In 2014, President Barack Obama signed 12 executive orders directing various agencies in the departments of State, Justice and Homeland Security to refrain from deporting some four million adult immigrants illegally present in the United States if they are the parents of children born here or legally present here and if they    ... MORE

More People Recognizing Copyright's 'Free Speech Problem'

by Mike Masnick.  For many years now, we've written about the fact that copyright law and the First Amendment are actually in quite a lot of conflict. After all, copyright is regularly used to stifle speech, and the First Amendment isn't supposed to allow for the barring of speech. Over the years, legal experts have been increasingly starting to realize    ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Supreme Hypocrisy

Politics as usual.  If there is one thing that is bipartisan in Washington, it is brazen hypocrisy. Currently there is much indignation being expressed by Democrats because the Republican-controlled Senate refuses to hold confirmation hearings on President Obama's nominee to the Supreme Court, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Justice Antonin ... MORE

Ilya Somin: Supreme Court Dismisses Nebraska-Oklahoma Lawsuit Against Marijuana Legalization In Colorado

Drug warriors take one on the chin.     The Supreme Court today refused to hear a case filed by the states of Nebraska and Oklahoma claiming that neighboring Colorado’s legalization of marijuana violates federal law and inflicts various harms on them: The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday refused to consider a lawsuit from Nebraska and         ... MORE

VIDEO: Newt Gingrich - Trump, Cruz and the Establishment

VIDEO: Why We're Losing Liberty

Justice Sotomayor Supports Practice Of Jury Nullification

by Joe Wolverton, II, J.D.  An article published by the Fully Informed Jury Association reports that on February 8, Supreme Court Justice Sonya Sotomayor (shown) told a group gathered at New York University that she disagreed with the Second Circuit Court’s holding in United States vs. Thomas. In that ruling, the court refused to recognize the    ... MORE

Ilya Somin: The Future Of Originalism After Scalia

A long-term war of attrition.     Prominent legal scholar Eric Posner recently argued that originalism is likely to fade away in the aftermath of the death of Justice Antonin Scalia, its leading advocate on the Supreme Court. In Posner’s view, the Supreme Court is virtually the only significant audience for originalist constitutional arguments, and it is      ... MORE

Conservative Icon Thomas Sowell Endorses Ted Cruz

by Jordan Schachtel.     The Supreme Court is paramount. Thomas Sowell, a leading intellectual who has been on the frontlines of the conservative movement for decades, is endorsing Sen. Ted Cruz (R-TX) as his choice to be the next President of the United States. Writing in RealClearPolitics, Sowell explained that “the vacancy created   ... MORE

John W. Whitehead: The People Vs The Police State

The struggle for justice in the Supreme Court.    The untimely death of Supreme Court Justice Antonin Scalia has predictably created a political firestorm. Republicans and Democrats, eager to take advantage of an opening on the Supreme Court, have been quick to advance their ideas about Scalia’s replacement. This is just the beginning of the     ... MORE