Jacob Sullum: Jurors Can't Know Pot Growers Are Patients

Federal prosecutors determined to hide the truth.     Imagine you are a juror in the federal trial of five people charged with growing and distributing marijuana in northeastern Washington. The prosecution cannot present any direct evidence that the defendants sold marijuana to anyone, and the defendants say they were growing all 74 plants ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Obama Versus America

Irresponsible and immature.    In his recent trip to India, President Obama repeated a long-standing pattern of his — denigrating the United States to foreign audiences. He said that he had been discriminated against because of his skin color in America, a country in which there is, even now, "terrible poverty." Make no mistake about it, there is   ... MORE

VIDEO: DEA Data Mining

Jacob Sullum: Busted Over $80 Worth of Pot, College Student Turns Police Informant, Then Turns Up Dead

This is the way everybody does it, says police chief. Last week North Dakota's Bureau of Criminal Investigation (BCI) released a report that finds no wrongdoing in the way an anti-drug task force handled a young confidential informant who turned up dead last June. Andrew Sadek, a 20-year-old student at North Dakota State College of Science in   ... MORE
 

Did Border Crisis Trigger Measles Outbreak?

by Joel B. Pollack.    More than a coincidence. A quick review of the U.S. State Department visa requirements for immigrant visas reveals that applicants must be vaccinated for measles prior to their approval. Measles vaccination is not required for tourist visas, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, nor is it required for any     ... MORE

VIDEO: What To Do When The Police Question You

Todd Krainin: Glenn Greenwald - The Outsider

Exposing a government with no constraints.   Glenn Greenwald is a lawyer who has lost all interest in making legal arguments. The reason for his indifference should terrify anyone who believes that the law, and not arbitrary decision-making by government officials, should govern a nation. Asked whether NSA mass surveillance is legal under    ... MORE

Thomas Sowell: Stormy Weather And Politics

The political utility of dire predictions.    It was refreshing to see meteorologists apologize for their dire — and wrong — predictions of an unprecedented snow storm that they had said would devastate the northeast. It was a big storm, but the northeast has seen lots of big snow storms before and will probably see lots of big snow storms  ... MORE

Right From The Dashcam: Seattle PD’s Arrest Of Black Man Is Every Problem With The Justice System In A Nutshell

A law unto themselves.  If there were a video and accompanying story that could be used as a textbook example of every problem with our criminal justice system, this is it. First, watch the cruiser cam video (you only need watch from 1:40 to 7:40). What the video shows is Wingate standing motionless at the crosswalk and Officer Whitlatch    ... MORE

Jeffrey Tucker: Another Reason Uber Gets Banned

Depressing drunk drivers costs government revenue.  I live in a college town where drunk driving is a way of life. I once asked a policeman what his main job was in my town and he said very plainly: “stopping and arresting drunk drivers.” I asked how he knows whom to stop. His answer is that he has developed a nose for this.    ... MORE

VIDEO: John Stossel - Trust and Reputation

Stephen Moore: Why Wages Aren't Rising

Obama is scooping up job creation money. President Obama has wisely abandoned his lead-filled trial balloon of taxing college savings plans. Congressional offices were deluged over the last week with indignant calls from voters on this middle-class bait-and-switch scheme and finally Democrats caved. Good riddance. But the worst    ... MORE

New Surgeon General Should Prescribe Honesty On E-Cigs

by Sally Satel, Forbes.        Early last week, the nation’s new Surgeon General, Dr. Vivek Murthy, said health officials are “in desperate need of clarity” on electronic cigarettes to help guide policies. The technology should be embraced, he said, if evidence shows e-cigarettes are able to help those who otherwise have trouble quitting smoking. Dr.    ... MORE

VIDEO: The Progressive Income Tax - A Tale Of Three Bros

The Authoritarianism Of The American Police State

by Matt Peppe.   Shielding accountability. Two days before Christmas, a “thug” launched an “unprovoked attack” on a female MTA employee on a Bronx subway platform, “choking her” and causing injuries, according to the Daily News. The “hulking brute” then fled the scene, “grinning as he made his may through the turnstile.” The newspaper description  ... MORE

Is Hillary The HealthCare.Gov Of Presidential Candiates?

by Peter Suderman.   Coronation of the status quo. For a sense of how crowded and chaotic the potential Republican presidential field is, it’s worth reading Sean Trende’s RealClearPolitics analysis of the coming race, “What If No One Wins the GOP Presidential Nomination?”   Trende makes a compelling argument—complete with a simple but smartly      ... MORE

The 7 Most Egregious Examples Of Civil Asset Forfeiture

by Casey Harper.    Great moments in legalized theft. Cops across the country are padding their budgets with hundreds of millions of dollars by seizing property from American citizens, even when they have not been charged with a crime. This process–called asset forfeiture–allows police to take property for themselves if they suspect it is being used for   ... MORE

Supreme Court Upholds Auto Stop With No Traffic Violation

by Marjorie Cohn. Ignorance of the law is no excuse -- that is, unless you're a police officer.  For the first time, in December, the Supreme Court upheld a traffic stop even where there was no traffic violation. The court, in Heien v. North Carolina, continued its steady erosion of the Fourth Amendment's protection against unreasonable searches and    ... MORE

VIDEO: Licensing and Cronyism