Why Are California's Governments So Lousy at Fighting Wildfires?
Bigger agencies, higher spending, and expanded workforces don't always make government more effective.
California
Despite a Notable Victory in Oklahoma, Legal Challenges to Flock Cameras Still Face Long Odds
State and federal courts have almost uniformly ruled that searches of ALPR databases do not implicate the Fourth Amendment.
The Pentagon Is Eating Silicon Valley
An influx of military spending has been moving tech companies away from serving consumers and back toward chasing government contracts.
A Court Rules That San Francisco's Empty Home Tax Is Illegal
San Francisco's tax on vacant homes is bad policy. Now it's also bad law.
California Lawmakers Passed a Pension Bomb. Newsom Was Right To Veto It.
Newsom echoes former Gov. Jerry Brown and acts like Sacramento's last adult.
You Can Now Sue Federal Agents in California. Good Luck Getting Past Qualified Immunity.
Californians can now sue federal officers for civil rights violations, but cops can still claim qualified immunity as a bona fide defense for official misconduct.
Department of Homeland Security
Homeland Security Admits To Watchlisting Americans Based on 'Potential Inaccuracies'
The feds’ response to a lawsuit over their voter fraud investigation program is an admission that their approach didn’t work. But some questions are still unanswered.
Department of Homeland Security
Homeland Security Agents Are Harassing American Voters of Foreign Origin
A campaign against noncitizen voter fraud is sweeping up U.S. citizens. California counties are suing to stop it.
California Wants to Write America's AI Rules
Newsom's expert panel has two months to consider new AI rules, including "kill switches," that could spread nationwide.
Paramount Bends the Knee to Rob Bonta
California and 11 other states weaponized antitrust law until Paramount agreed to film quotas and an oversight board for CNN and CBS.
Why Did a California County Fine Them Over $1 Million for Someone Else's Code Violations?
A recent settlement crippled a local code enforcement scheme—and exposed the perils of turning petty violations into government revenue streams.
SCOTUS May Soon Determine If California Can Force Doctors To Learn About 'Implicit Bias'
A Supreme Court petition challenges California’s attempt to force private medical instructors to teach “implicit bias.”
Report: California's Proposed 'Billionaire Tax' Is Based on Bad Research
The planned wealth tax leads slightly in the polls and is already driving capital flight.
DOJ Says Workers at L.A. Homeless Nonprofits Spent Tax Dollars on Vacations, Nightclubs, Bail
Three people in the Los Angeles area have been charged with fraud related to misappropriation of homelessness funds.
Is AI Really an Existential Threat?
Plus: California's new restrictions on social media, Trump's $5,000 “dividend,” and the future of libertarianism.
The 'Stop Nick Shirley Act': Yet Another Anti-Doxxing Law That Chills Free Speech
A lawsuit argues that a recently passed law to protect immigration service providers in California is "overbroad and vague."
This California Social Media Law is a Privacy and Free Speech 'Nightmare'
California Gov. Gavin Newsom signed more than a dozen online safety and tech regulation bills into law this week.
Politicians See Opportunity in Data Center Panic
The panic is pretty silly, since these facilities are necessary to power industries that power our economy and fund state budgets.
The Feds Are Spying on Your Bank Account
While the Treasury forces money changers to report on suspected immigrants, Homeland Security is having police pull people over for suspicious transactions.
Who Owns California's Gold?
The Gold Rush was not only a scramble for wealth. It was also a scramble for property rights.
State Film Subsidies Lose Money. Trump Wants To Try the Idea Nationally.
There's “no reason to think a federal incentive would work any differently from state incentives,” says one expert.
A California County Used Drones To Spy on Homes. A Settlement Will Now Require Warrants.
Sonoma County launched the program to find illegal cannabis grows, but it secretly morphed into a wider search for minor building code violations.
Prosecutors Say a North Carolina Teenager Committed Murder by Livestreaming a California Mosque Shooting
The case smacks of a desire for retribution that cannot be satisfied by prosecuting the actual killers, who committed suicide.
Federalism Will Save the Data Centers
State preemption worked for housing. It's unlikely to come to the rescue of incredibly unpopular data centers.
Democrats Are Undoing California's Pension Reforms. Why Are Republicans Going Along With It?
Pension changes passed in 2011 have saved California taxpayers from a fiscal crisis, but public sector unions are now pushing to undo them.
Gavin Newsom Admits He Might Keep Tariffs?
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss tariffs, tech moral panics, social media harms, video games, Dolly Parton, Tim Curry, AI-written journalism, and America’s $40 trillion debt.
California Bill Would Cap Rents During U.S.-Involved War
The war in Iran is causing California lawmakers to consider wider price controls.
Justice Department Finds 'Unbroken Pattern' of Sexual Abuse in Two California Women's Prisons
A Justice Department report documents California's failure to protect incarcerated women from sexual assault going back decades.
A Wealth Tax Built on Billionaires Who Aren't Really Billionaires
Many entrepreneurs with high net worths don't actually have much cash. What bank lends $100 million against illiquid stock in young companies that may or may not succeed?
Unionized Delivery Drivers Vs. Deliveries
Across the country, the Teamsters union is at war with companies trying to ship more things to your door for less money.
San Francisco's 'Historic Laundromat' Project Finally Begins Construction
Activists were able to block an apartment project in the city's Mission District by raising an increasingly ridiculous set of objections.
New Jersey Revives the Fight To Reclassify Gig Workers as Employees
California notoriously fought to do the same, which led to a slew of exemptions and job declines.
Rob Bonta's Paramount Crusade Could Make California's Hollywood Exodus Even Worse
California's attorney general is fighting a merger that 65 countries and the DOJ already cleared. Now, the state may lose thousands of jobs.
The YIMBY-Libertarian Convergence
An eminent domain case out of Rhode Island shows how YIMBY regulatory reforms and libertarian constitutional law activism work in tandem.
Don't Hate the Dodgers for Dominating So Much, Hate the Bankruptcy Court That Helped Them Do It
Plus: FIFA’s president doesn’t understand his own organization's politics; a solid new pickleball movie
California's War on Goats Could Worsen the Wildfire Crisis
Standard minimum wage and overtime laws now apply to the state's goat herders, whose animals clear brush and reduce fire danger. The costs are unsustainable.
California's Prison Reform Experiment Worked. The State's Crime Rate Has Fallen by 27% in 15 Years.
Facts don't care about the GOP's "crime wave" feelings.
A Man Died of COVID at This California Detention Center. A Judge Just Ordered Sweeping Improvements There.
A federal judge ordered sweeping improvements to conditions at the Adelanto ICE Processing Center in California. Families say their loved ones died of neglect inside.
California's Local Governments Want State Taxpayers To Pay More, More, More
California local governments of every size are crying poor as they struggle with budget shortfalls.
Debate: What Actually Happened to Rep. Ro Khanna in the West Bank?
Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss the strange turn of events in the congressman's trip.
