Jury Nullification: The Elephant In The Room
by Lisa Provence. There's an elephant in every courtroom. Prosecutors and judges won't show it to jurors, and even Virginia defense lawyers seem forbidden from mentioning this fact: If you think a law is unjust, you can acquit. It's called jury nullification, and such Founding Fathers as John Adams and Thomas Jefferson venerated juries as "the last ... MOREThomas Sowell: News Versus Propaganda
Using deception to shape perception. Since so many in the media cannot resist turning every tragedy into a political talking point, it was perhaps inevitable that (1) someone would try to link the shooting rampage at the Batman movie in Colorado to the Tea Party, and that (2) some would try to make it a reason to impose more gun control laws. Too ... MOREJeffrey Folks: End The Ethanol Madness
Time to inject a kernel of reality. Economists are warning that the current drought in the Corn Belt is going to result in higher food prices. That increase will hit consumers hard, reducing discretionary spending and further weakening an already fragile economy. With every scorching day that passes, the catastrophe mounts. But, as usual, the president is AWOL. ... MOREAaron Goldstein: From Aurora To Chicago
The hollow pieties of gun control politics. In the wake of the horrific movie theater shooting in Aurora, Colorado, last Friday that resulted in the deaths of twelve people, there have been renewed calls for increased gun control in the United States. One such call came from the Baltimore Sun in an editorial titled, "If Colorado shooting can't prompt a ... MOREMichael Barone: An Economic Tale Of Two Cities
Central planning vs the wisdom of markets. This is a tale of two cities. No, not Dickens' phlegmatic London and passionate Paris. Nor the two neighborhoods Charles Murray contrasted in his recent bestseller "Coming Apart" -- prosperous but isolated Belmont (actually, Mitt Romney's home for decades) and needy and disorganized ... MORE
Walter E Williams: Stubborn Ignorance
Racism by the numbers. Academic intelligentsia, their media, government and corporate enthusiasts worship at the altar of diversity. Despite budget squeezes, universities have created diversity positions, such as director of diversity and inclusion, manager of diversity recruitment, associate dean for diversity, vice president of ... MOREDomestic Drones: Security And Privacy Game Changer
The security and privacy issues are monumental. Do you recall when researchers from the University of Texas hijacked a drone via GPS spoofing? Congress does and held a House Homeland Security Oversight Subcommittee hearing called Using Unmanned Aerial Systems Within the Homeland: Security Game Changer? Professor Todd Humphreys ... MORERonald Bailey: Citizens Resisting Ridiculous Laws?
Protecting individual liberty from the jury box. In Charlottesville, Va. (where I spend most of my time) a jury just found Philip Cobbs not guilty of marijuana possession. As the superb local weekly The Hook reports: Cobbs, a 54-year-old who takes care of his elderly mother, was arrested last summer after a marijuana eradication helicopter flew ... MOREShaun Connell: What Is Capitalism, Anyway?
Understand it before you decide to hate it. People complain about capitalism almost anytime something socially undesirable occurs. Kim Kardashian's marriage lasted 15 seconds? That's capitalism, for you. People are eating unhealthy food because it's "cheap"? That's capitalism's fault. The poor are getting poorer while the banks are getting ... MORE
Christopher Elliott: The TSA Has A Little Penis Problem
Not a tyrannical agency? Please watch the video. We could be talking about meaningful things today, like the "not guilty" verdict for TSA protester John Brennan. We could be discussing the latest screening outrage, which involves a passenger's feeding tube. We might even debate why the agency assigned to protect America's transportation ... MOREThomas Sowell: Trashing Achievement
Outcome differences are called "class differences." There was a time, within living memory, when the achievements of others were not only admired but were often taken as an inspiration for imitation of the same qualities that had served these achievers well, even if we were not in the same field of endeavor and were not expecting to achieve on ... MORECharles C. W. Cooke: Our Odd Focus
It's not about the guns. What happened in Colorado in the early hours of this morning was not a “tragedy” but a willful act of mass murder. Beyond his age, name, and ethnicity, nobody yet knows who the shooter is, or why he chose to do what he did. In my view, this is a blessing, albeit a temporary one; for, as has been the way in ... MOREMaegan Vazquez: Political Correctness Run Amok?
The tyranny of free speech codes on campus. If you thought college was a place for young people to speak out, challenges one another's deeply-held beliefs and grow intellectually, chances are you've never been to Indiana University Southeast. The school, located just 10 miles north of Louisville, Ky., is the latest college to see its ... MORESteven Greenhut: California Goes Bankrupt
One city after another becomes insolvent. First Vallejo, then Stockton, then Mammoth Lakes, and now San Bernardino and soon possibly Compton. As Orange County Supervisor John Moorlach told Bloomberg News, the bankruptcy dominoes are starting to fall. One California city after another—following a decade-long spree of ramping up public- ... MOREKyle Becker: The Deception Of Perfection
Aiming toward an all-powerful government. The American republic since its inception has been a shining exemplar of success. The nation ascended from fledgling British colony to the sole superpower in the world. It built an economy that generated unparalleled wealth, liberated millions from oppression by wielding the might of its magnificent ... MORE
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