October 21, 2019

FISA court ruled that FBI improperly used NSA surveillance data to snoop on Americans

fromNola.com:  In 2017 alone, the FBI conducted over 3.1 million searches of surveillance data

Government is Watching Every Move You Make

A New Orleans man faced a felony marijuana charge; too many potential jurors wouldn't consider it

fromNola.com: Jury nullification. Learn it, love it, live it.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

The late great state of California

fromMisesInstitute: Are people leaving California? More people are out-migrating to other states than those coming in, but much of that was offset by international migrants resulting in a net population loss of only 38,000 (2018).

The Government is Not Us

Tulsi Gabbard: Canary in the Democratic coal mine

fromAmericanSpectator: The imminent demise of her presidential campaign portends disaster for her party.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Walter E Williams - Intolerance in academia

fromCreators: There's nothing better than the sounds of pocketbooks snapping shut to bring a bit of sanity to college administrators.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Mentions of government as top U.S. problem near record high

fromGallup: "Government," which includes negative comments about leadership and politicians, has been the top problem in 31 of Gallup's 34 readings since January 2017.

The Government is Not Us

Feb 21, 2019

The United States should legalize prostitution

fromCollegian:  Sex working is the most dangerous job in the country, even more so than logging or oil workers. Despite the general taboo associated with prostitution, legalizing it would benefit everyone more than expected.

The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Houston narc who lied to justify a deadly drug raid had been accused of perjury

fromReason:  There may be a consequence for the lying narco cop responsible for the deaths of two innocent people and the injuries to five other state agents.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Trump wants taxpayers reimbursed for billions thrown away on California's high speed rail scheme

fromCNBC:  Politicians lied about every aspect of the plan to rob federal taxpayers. The costs, feasibility and speed bear no resemblance to what had been promised.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption         Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Supreme Court to hear biggest gun rights case since 2010

fromReuters:  The U.S. Supreme Court took up its biggest gun rights case in nearly a decade, agreeing to hear a challenge to New York City’s strict limits on handgun owners transporting their firearms outside of the home.

2nd Amendment Assaults

Oregon on track to be 1st state with mandated rent controls

fromAP:  Now Oregon property owners are as helpless to dictate rents as they are to dictate taxes.

Individual Liberty: America's First Principle

How people in 1968 used jury nullification to block unreasonable arrests

fromCATO:  There wasn’t much doubt that the men had been doing what the law prohibited. Yet Long Island juries found them not guilty. That’s a phenomenon often called jury nullification.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Feb 19, 2019

How 1984 turned into an instruction manual

fromTheDailyBell:  One of the key themes from George Orwell’s dystopic novel 1984 is that the Party can do and say whatever it wants. And more importantly, you must believe it, with all your heart. No matter how absurd.

The Government is Not Us

Wayne Allyn Root: Democrats can't hide crazy

fromCreators:  Why is Donald Trump's approval rating surging? Look at what he is compared to.

Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Walter E Williams: Plunder - An American way of life

fromCreators:  "When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it."

Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Beyond guilt or innocence, should jurors weigh if law is worth enforcing?

fromChristianScienceMonitor:  Because juror deliberations are private, and rarely discussed afterward, it’s unclear how much nullification may be happening even without juries being instructed.

Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

VIDEO: Cops smell weed on 16yo boy, so they beat the hell out of him

fromChristianScienceMonitor:  The primary danger of smoking pot comes from police.

Police State America          The War on Unapproved Voluntary Exchange

Motive revealed In Smollett case: Actor concocted hate crime after racist letter failed to impress

fromZeroHedge:  Pimping the "Trump and his supporters are racists" narrative at all costs.

Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery         Indoctrination and Censorship

May 31, 2016

How to get on a jury

fromReason: And, what you do once you're there is up to you.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Trump to sign 'right to try' bill next week

fromTheHill: President Trump will sign legislation next week allowing terminally ill patients to access experimental drugs not yet approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). 
Individual Liberty: America's First Principle       Regulation Nation

Europe plans ban on plastic cutlery, straws and more

fromCNN: In the tradition of California, Europe's PC politicos continue to lower standards for their citizens. Ever drink through a paper straw?  Yuk.
Regulation Nation

The current status of prices in Venezuela

fromEconomicPolicyJournal: A sneak peek at what the Left is pushing America towards.
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Britons rage over Robinson arrest as mass protests break out worldwide

fromZeroHedge: The UK is no longer a free country and awakening citizens are freaking out. And, they should be.
The Government is Not Us

John Stossel: How junk science sends innocent people to jail

fromReason: It’s time to reform our criminal justice system.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

April 3, 2016

The spending bill brings us closer to national bankruptcy

fromReason: Thanks to Congress and President Trump, budget deficits will only mushroom. 
Economic Policy: Statism Versus The Free Market

Cops kill unarmed dad over window tint, then use his dead finger to unlock phone

fromTheFreeThoughtProject: Family claims that after killing a man over illegal window tint, cops went to funeral home and demanded access to his dead body so that they could unlock his phone with his fingerprint.  
Police State America

Consent of the governed & informed juries

fromAmmoland: It used to be a common understanding that jurors had the prerogative, even the duty, to vote to acquit the accused if the juror believed that the person was being tried for violating an unfair or improper law.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

Enough is enough: police violence plagues America

fromCounterPunch: The systemic violence being perpetrated by agents of the government has done more collective harm to the American people and our liberties than any single act of terror or mass shooting. 
Police State America

Judge says coffee must come with a cancer warning in California

fromWallStreetJournal: In reality, it is politicians that should come with a cancer warning. They are a proven malignancy to our economic health.
Regulation Nation

Will Stephon Clark’s killing by police finally force open California misconduct investigations?

fromReason: Lawmakers have tried to counter the powerful law enforcement lobby and failed. 
Police State America

March 12, 2018

Emotional learning will be the downfall of society

fromTownhall: Feelings are more dangerous than ideas, because they aren’t susceptible to rational evaluation. 
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

VIDEO: Thomas Sowell - The Political Value of Crisis

fromLibertyPen/YouTube: A brilliant analysis by Professor Sowell regarding the primary tactic used by politicians to push their agendas.
Politics and Other Official Acts of Corruption

Government wants our trust, but where's the accountability?

fromReason: The foul ups by the Broward County Sheriff's Office don't inspire confidence.
The Government is Not Us

Jurors can be heroes, too; follow consciences rather than law

fromDuluthNewsTribune: They have the extraordinary power to reach a decision they believe is right.
Justice is a Result, Not Just a Process

If police don’t have to protect the public, what good are they?

fromTheRutherfordInstitute: According to the U.S. Supreme Court, police have no duty, moral or otherwise, to help those in trouble, protect individuals from danger, or risk their own lives to save “we the people.”
Police State America

Justice Alito's fantastic line of questioning in 'political' apparel case exposes liberal bias

fromDailyWire: A brilliant exposure of leftwing nitwittery.
Political Correctness and Other Nitwittery

Green Light For Jury-Nullification Crusaders

by Emma Gannone.     The 10th Circuit upheld an injunction that lets protesters disseminate pamphlets about jury nullification outside a state courthouse in Colorado. Jury nullification describes the practice by which a jury acquits a defendant, despite evidence of his guilt, because the jury members believe the law at issue is immoral. Protests over   ... MORE

Juries Were Supposed To Be Able To Overturn Laws

by Clay Conrad.   History is clear. The law is unclear on exactly what a jury is. Juries can range from four to 12 members, depending on the state and case. In two states, criminal juries need not reach unanimous judgments. In some states, jurors can question witnesses. There have even been arguments for so-called professional jurors. Some believe   ... MORE

VIDEO: Jury Nullification, Jury Rights & Jury Independence

Jurors Need To Take The Law Into Their Own Hands

by Paul Butler, Washington Post.  I learned about jury nullification while serving as a prosecutor in the District in the 1990s. As a rookie, I was warned that in nonviolent drug cases, it would be tough to get a conviction, no matter how strong my evidence was. The experienced prosecutors explained that the African American jurors “didn’t    ... MORE

Bob Unruh: How Much Power Do Juries Really Have?

Answer: much more than they are told. A case against a Michigan man for handing out informational leaflets on jury nullification in front of a courthouse could impact what juries can do and how much control judges and prosecutors have of their decision-making process. “Freedom of speech is not absolute,” argued Brian E. Theide, who is        ... MORE

Jury Nullification Gets Big Boost From Lawmakers

by Bob Unruh. Because justice is a result, not just a process.   A New Hampshire bill would require state courts to inform juries that a defendant who has been shown to have committed a crime can be declared not guilty if a guilty verdict would “yield an unjust result,” a concept known as jury nullification. The plan, approved 184-145 by the state House  ... MORE

New Hampshire Committee Approves Jury Nullification Bill

Because justice is a result, not just a process. A New Hampshire House committee has approved a bill that would make jury nullification an official aspect of the state legal system. A coalition of nine representatives introduced House Bill 1270 (HB1270) in January. The legislation would allow a defendant or defense attorney to request that the court  ... MORE

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

Justice Sotomayor Has Kind Words For Jury Nullification

by Jacob Sullum.   Because justice is a result, not just a process. This week Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor had some kind words for jury nullification, which empowers jurors to judge the law as well as the facts of a case and may involve disregarding the law when the law is unjust. During a discussion about juries at NYU Law School on   ... MORE

Why Grand Juries Are A Prosecutor's Best Friend

by Sara J. Berman.   Choosing evidence to control the outcome. Unlike a preliminary hearing, held in court with the defense side present, the grand jury does not make its decision in the context of an adversary proceeding. Rather, grand jurors see and hear only what prosecutors put before them. (Prosecutors technically have an obligation to     ... MORE

America's History Of Justice: How Jury Nullification Set Wild Bill Hickok Free Although He Killed A Man Illegally!

Because justice is a result, not simply a process.   On July 20 1865, James Butler “Wild Bill” Hickok was playing in a poker game at the Lyon House Hotel in Springfield MO., when a friend of his, Davis Tutt showed up claiming Hickok owed him $45 from an earlier game. Hickok said he only owed $25 since he had paid Tutt $20 some days    ... MORE

Frank Parlato: It's Time You Understood Jury Nullification

Justice is a result, not simply a process.   Jury nullification is the term used when a jury – or even a single juror – votes to acquit a criminal defendant who is technically guilty, but who juror(s) do not believe deserve punishment. It occurs in a trial when a jury reaches a verdict contrary to the judge’s instructions. It occurs when a single juror  ... MORE

VIDEO: Tyrannical Judge Stomps On First Amendment, Charges Man With Felony For Passing Out Jury Rights Fliers

Mario Nicolais: Jury Nullification In Colorado Spotlight

The law you won't be told.  “God gives air to men; the law sells it to them.” — Victor Hugo, Les Miserables Such is the disdain proponents of jury nullification feel toward laws and prosecutions they believe to be unjust. Generally the province of a small but passionate and vocal few, jury nullification found itself in headlines and on editorial pages ... MORE