A sobering thought. In an age of social liberalism, you can expect to see many things become legal. One thing that hasn't become legal and that almost nobody has considered legalizing is childhood drinking. And the reason nobody has really suggested it is because each and every one of us knows that children are idiots. You never really know what ... MORE
by John W. Whitehead. Police officers are more likely to be struck by lightning than be held financially accountable for their actions.—Law professor Joanna C. Schwartz (paraphrased) If you can be kicked, punched, tasered, shot, intimidated, harassed, stripped, searched, brutalized, terrorized, wrongfully arrested, and even killed by a police ... MORE
No good deed goes unpunished. A Raleigh police officer who was given a free cup of coffee by Starbucks is now suing the company after he spilled it and got burned. In the lawsuit, Matthew Kohr, a lieutenant with RPD, said the lid popped off the cup of coffee he ordered at the Starbucks on Peace Street in January 2012 and the cup collapsed. ... MORE
Behavior matters and so do facts. Among the many painful ironies in the current racial turmoil is that communities scattered across the country were disrupted by riots and looting because of the demonstrable lie that Michael Brown was shot in the back by a white policeman in Missouri — but there was not nearly as much turmoil created by ... MORE
by Eli Hager. Why the public is still in the dark about Freddie Gray. It has been more than two weeks since Baltimore police dragged Freddie Gray
into the paddy-wagon from which he would emerge, half an hour later,
with a fatal injury to his spine. But as another day ticks by, Gray's
neighbors and fellow citizens remain largely uninformed about ... MORE
by Ed Krayewski. How much does a lack of police accountability and transparency contribute to the anger that helps turn protests violent? Protests in Baltimore over the Freddie Gray's unexplained death while
in police custody from a fatal spine injury are turning violent. As
usual, authorities blame outsiders for the violence, a spurious claim. ... MORE
by Donald Lambro. The candidate who wins the presidency in 2016 will be the one who vows to wage all-out war on a bloated, inefficient, corrupt government in need of a top-to-bottom, budget-cutting revolution. Next to an underperforming economy, the problem that concerns most Americans is the government’s $18 trillion debt, fueled by six ... MORE
by Kenneth Rapoza. Want a limited government that’s held accountable by society? Then start packing. With all this talk about fiscal responsibility in the U.S. and Europe, the World Justice Project’s latest rule of law index gives civil society a sense of which governments are fair and accountable. And the U.S. is not even in the top 15. ... MORE
by Nick Gillespie. In the wake of the horrific and unjustifiable shooting of two NYPD officers who were sitting in a patrol car in Brooklyn, the mad rush is now on to indict a wide range of co-conspirators and "real killers." This is a tired and worn-out gambit and its high point (that is, low point) has already probably been reached in the Twitter feed of ... MORE
by J.D. Tuccille. Even before the Democratic
Party's...drubbing
(that seems to be the favored term this time around) in yesterday's
elections, the White House was already blaming its supposed allies
for the defeats that were (correctly) anticipated once voters
trooped to the polls. "Ultimately, you know, it's the quality of these candidates ... MORE
by Charles Payne. The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) released its report, Expenditures on Children by Families, and the cost of raising a child is now up to $245,000- not including the cost of college. The most expensive part of raising children is keeping a roof over their heads and food in their bellies; combined, the two equate to 46 % of total ... MORE
Few things matter as much as philosophy. Next week, the new term begins and I’ll be teaching an undergraduate philosophy course called, “Technology, Privacy, and the Law.” The first order of business will be to explain why thinking critically about privacy—determining what it is, deciding when it should be protected, and pinpointing how it ... MORE
by Thomas Lifson. Politicians worry the ignorant won't vote. Buying votes is illegal, yet the misnamed Los Angeles Ethics Commission is proposing to pay people to vote, in the form of lottery prizes. David Zahniser of the Los Angeles Times reports: Alarmed that fewer than one-fourth of voters are showing up for municipal elections, the Los ... MORE
by Frank Parlato. As everyone knows, there is sometimes a difference between "the law" and justice. The framers of the constitution knew this and they imposed upon the government the right of the people to a trial by jury, making it the jury's responsibility to deliver justice, not uphold the law. This is evident in the writings of the founders of ... MORE
by Patrick Howley. Another likely story from our unaccountable government. IRS Deputy Associate Chief Counsel Thomas Kane said in transcribed congressional testimony that more IRS officials experienced computer crashes, bringing the total number of crash victims to “less than 20,” and also said that the agency does not know if the ... MORE