California
Cigarette Taxes Are Costing States Billions in Lost Revenue
Punitive levies drive black markets, fuel criminal enterprises, and—perhaps counterintuitively—help people evade the tax man.
The 50-Year Mortgage: Completely Fine or a Total Flop?
Mortgage experts are divided on the wisdom of a 50-year mortgage. No one seems to think it's the key to making homeownership affordable.
Will SCOTUS Resolve the Circuit Split on a Law That Disarms People With Nonviolent Criminal Records?
Steven Duarte is one of several petitioners who are asking the justices to address the constitutionality of that absurdly broad gun ban.
California's Fast-Food Minimum Wage Hike Is Killing Jobs
You can’t legislate your way to prosperity.
California's Aggressive Regulations Put Burgeoning AI Industry at Risk
Overly strict or poorly designed rules could slow beneficial uses of AI in healthcare, education, infrastructure, and public safety.
They Face $1 Million in Fines—for Someone Else's Code Violations
Humboldt County, California's sketchy code enforcement scheme piles ruinous fines on innocent people and sets them up to lose.
Don't Panic Over Federal Cuts for Homeless Programs
The federal cuts amount to little more than a rounding error in most state or big city budgets.
Seventh Circuit Rules Against Trump's Use of National Guard in Chicago
The Court of Appeals unanimously refused to stay a trial court ruling against Trump, signaling the judges believe his use of the Guard is illegal.
How Josh Hawley Is Empowering Unions in New York and California
Some blue states are trying to set up their own versions of the NLRB, and Hawley is inadvertently (or deliberately) helping the cause.
How Trump Triggered California's Redistricting Fight
Don't believe the GOP's 'principled' opposition to Prop. 50
California's Latest Dumb Gun Law is a Ban on Glocks
According to California lawmakers, Kamala Harris’s pistol is a potential machinegun.
Deference Due? Trump, the National Guard, and the Misuse of Martin v. Mott
A guest post by Joshua Braver and John Dehn.
The Zoning Theory of Everything: Abortion Edition
Every political issue ultimately becomes a zoning issue.
California Wants To Punish Social Platforms for Aiding and Abetting the First Amendment
Another entry into the "algorithms are magic" school of imposing liability on tech companies.
California's Fast Food Minimum Wage Hike Cost the State 18,000 Jobs. That Shouldn't Surprise Anyone.
Lawmakers made an exception for smaller restaurant chains, implicitly acknowledging that the law would come with costs.
Treasury Department Surveillance at the Southern Border Faces Fourth Amendment Challenges
A new FinCEN rule forced small money services businesses to collect personal data on nearly every customer transaction. Lawsuits claim this violates the Fourth Amendment.
Trump's Troops Return to a City That Moved On: Dispatch From Portland
Five years after the city’s fiery 2020 protests, Portland is mostly calm. That hasn’t stopped Trump from reviving old battles, fueled by false memories and made-for-TV outrage.
California Got This One Right: ICE Agents Shouldn't Be Allowed To Wear Masks
Masked agents are the unmistakable sign of a police state.
These 2 Terrible Tech Bills Are on Gavin Newsom's Desk
One limits children’s access to mental health services, the other mandates a black box warning, and both undermine users’ digital privacy.
Mountain Lions in Los Angeles Don't Need a $92 Million Government Project To Survive
There are cheaper solutions to help the not-endangered beasts get around.
In California, YIMBYs Pass Holy Grail Zoning Reform
Plus: San Francisco preliminarily passes citywide upzoning, a New Jersey town backs off family farm seizure, and YIMBY martial law ruled illegal in Hawaii.
California's Tech Regulations Could Strangle AI Innovation for the Whole Country
Federalism works best when state-level policy experiments stay contained.
Department of Veterans Affairs
In 16 Years, the V.A. Turned This $450 Million Hospital Project Into a $1.6 Billion Boondoggle
What began as a simple hospital project has become yet another example of bureaucratic failure at the Department of Veterans Affairs
How Weed Surveillance Drones Destroyed the Lives of These Californians
California tried to use drones to find illegal marijuana operations, but they found building code violations instead.
The New Texas Ban on Cell-Cultured Protein Is an Unconstitutional Interstate Trade Barrier, a Lawsuit Says
The ban's supporters, whose motivation is plainly protectionist, claim they are defending freedom by restricting it.
Gavin Newsom's Trolling of Donald Trump Is a Painful Reminder That Politics Can Always Get Dumber
Newsom hired a brass-knuckled social-media team to fight fire with fire, but the result is even more childish nonsense in politics.
When It Comes to Fighting Crime With the National Guard, Trump Says, He Can Do 'Anything I Want To Do'
The president's plan to promote public safety by deploying troops in cities across the country is hard to reconcile with constitutional constraints on federal authority.
Video Shows Immigration Officers Shooting at a San Bernardino Family's Car. DHS Calls It Justified.
CBP officers said they acted in self-defense when the driver fled the scene, but passengers believe video evidence shows they were the real victims.
Court Kills California's One-Gun-a-Month Law
There’s no historical precedent for trying to ration constitutionally protected rights.
San Francisco's All-Electric Ordinance Will Make Housing More Expensive
San Francisco’s new ordinance would impose all-electric building standards for new construction projects or buildings undergoing “major renovations.”
6 U.S. Travel Destinations in the Middle of Nowhere
From under the sea to the Rocky Mountains.
How Overregulation Burned Out Competition in the Fire Retardant Industry
Companies chose to exit the market rather than deal with the excessive regulations baked into the industry.
A First Amendment Lawsuit Highlights the Chilling Impact of Speech-Based Deportation on Student Journalists
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is seeking an injunction that would protect noncitizens at The Stanford Daily from arrest and removal because of their published work.
The 'Rigged' Jobs Data
Plus: AI reanimations of those who've died, Elizabeth Warren x Zohran Mamdani, and more...
Upholding a Vaccine Mandate, the 9th Circuit Embraces an Alarmingly Broad Definition of 'Public Health'
The appeals court held that the government may require COVID-19 shots based purely on the benefits to recipients.
Californians Can Now Buy Ammunition Online Just Like Free Americans
Golden State ammunition restrictions have been voided for violating the Second Amendment.
Michigan Wineries Win $50 Million in Fight Against Local Zoning Rules
A federal judge ruled that Peninsula Township’s former restrictions on music, events, and grape sourcing violated the rights of local wineries.
California Is Advancing a Bill To Punish Social Media Companies for Not Suppressing Speech
Senate Bill 771 would fine platforms up to $1 million if their algorithms relay hate speech to users.
Mark Graber on the History and Original Meaning of the Militia Act of 1903
Graber shows that the act used by Trump to federalize the California National Guard does not allow the president to take this step in response to low-level violence and disorder.
