Donald Trump's Listening Session With Mass Shooting Survivors Was Really Powerful
The president showed empathy, engagement, and leadership in a way that will surprise many of his critics and supporters alike.
Civil Liberties
Searching for Gun Violence Solutions That Don't Collectivize Punishment
Are "gun violence restraining orders" the answer?
Doe-Eyed Youngsters for My Preferred Policies
The benefits and flaws of policy disputes get sidelined when activist movements adopt kids as human shields.
Can the Trump Administration Ban Bump Stocks?
The president may want to act, but he may need Congress to go along.
Don't Feed the Russian Troll Hysteria
The "information warfare" described in Friday's indictment is not an existential threat to American democracy.
Trump Endorses a Ban on Bump Stocks
The once obscure device may not be long for this world.
Will Support for Gun Control Spike After Florida? Probably Not, Even Among Young People.
Since the mid-1990s (and despite mass shootings), popular opinion in favor of gun rights has increased. It's unlikely the Parkland massacre will change that.
Are Libertarian Responses to Mass Shootings Persuasive?: Podcast
Katherine Mangu-Ward, Peter Suderman, Robby Soave and Nick Gillespie talk gun violence, immigration politics, Russian electoral interference, and Black Panther.
The Two Sides of Collective Bargaining: A Way of Looking at the First Amendment Question in Janus
The government always compels taxpayers to fund the management side of management-labor bargaining in public workplaces. Given this, why should there be a First Amendment problem with compelled funding (through agency fees as well as taxes) of both sides?
Supreme Court Won't Review 10-Day Waiting Period for Gun Purchases, Clarence Thomas Dissents
"The right to keep and bear arms is apparently this Court's constitutional orphan."
City Orders Businesses to Join Its Police Surveillance System
Saginaw demands that establishments install video cameras and turn over footage.
Border Bouncers Don't Need Big Brother Spying Powers Over Americans
ICE and border patrol agents want access to NSA intel obtained without warrants.
Are Gun Violence Restraining Orders Consistent With Due Process?
Such orders can easily be used to take away innocent people's Second Amendment rights.
After the Gun Ban
Looking back a few years after hypothetical new restrictions on semiautomatic weapons in private hands, we see a country grown more divided, but no less armed.
'Gun Politics Is Where the Easy Caricature of America's Radicalized Youth Marching Toward Socialism Ends'
Young Americans don't fit into dying 20th-century culture-war tribes.
Greg Gutfeld: How To Stop Mass Shootings Without Gutting the 2nd Amendment
The Fox News host offers good-faith ideas worth engaging.
Justice Ginsburg Criticizes Lack of Due Process on Campus
In a wide-ranging interview, the "Notorious RBG" suggests colleges campuses are not providing adequate process to the accused.
A Cure for Mass Shootings Doesn't Exist
There are no plausible options that offer more than the faintest prospect of preventing the next massacre.
Disarming 'Individuals With Mental Illness' Would Affect a Quarter of the Population
Even a narrower approach, focused on purported risk, deprives many innocent people of their constitutional rights.
Is It OK To Punch a Nazi? We Asked Berkeley Students
A year after fiery political protests erupted on campus, we visited to find out when students think it's OK to respond to words with violence.
Feds Announce Indictments of Russian Nationals for Attempting to Influence American Elections
Thirteen individuals and three companies accused of conspiracy against the U.S., wire fraud, and identity theft.
17-Year-Old Says 'I Could Buy an AR-15,' Gets Arrested
"The offense is akin to joking about a bomb in the airport," Ledyard High School's principal said. "One simply doesn't do it."
None of These Popular Gun Control Proposals Would Have Prevented the Parkland Shooting
Policies favored by both experts and the public would not have prevented the Florida shooting.
3 Supreme Court Cases to Watch This Month
Here are the SCOTUS cases to watch in February.
An 'Assault Weapon' Ban Won't Stop Mass Shootings
Congress can't "stop the killing...by changing the law."
Child Custody, Religion, and Children's Reactions to a Parent's Religious Demands
"The change in the child's relationship with the father based on the child's fear of his displeasure if she were not a 'true Muslim,' and her belief that he threatened to abscond with her to Morocco, also contributed to the change in circumstances warranting modification" of the custody arrangement.
No, Trump Did Not Make It Easier for Mentally Ill People to Buy Guns
Shooting revives deliberately misleading talking points about a bad regulation both the NRA and the ACLU opposed.
Lawmakers Should Avoid Rush to Ramp Up Gun Confiscations
California's gun registration program is a mess.
More Cops in Schools Is the Wrong Answer to Mass Shootings
Some pundits want school security to be as pointlessly intrusive as airport security.
Yes, This Is a Good Time To Talk About Gun Violence and How To Reduce It
The Florida school shooting is horrific, but making sure such tragedies never happen is no simple matter.
First Amendment Case Brought by Immigration Checkpoint Protesters/Monitors Can Go Forward
So holds the Ninth Circuit, in a case in which the Scott & Cyan Banister First Amendment Clinic, which I run, filed an amicus brief.
Taylor Swift Decision: Copiers Gonna Copy, Copy, Copy
And that's not copyright infringement, if they only copy short phrases, especially ones that were themselves largely copied from others.
Yes, This Is a Good Time To Talk About Gun Violence and How To Reduce It
The Florida school shooting is horrific, but making sure such tragedies never happen is no simple matter.
Two Baltimore Police Officers Found Guilty of Armed Robbery, Racketeering
The trial of two Gun Trace Task Force members sheds light on a deeply dysfunctional department.
Libertarian History/Philosophy
Wired Thinks Free Speech Has Been Tried and Failed
The ancient authoritarian imperative to restrict speech shows up in a new guise.
Alabama Prosecutor, Sheriff Threaten to Put More People in Prison in Order to Keep Seizing Massive Amounts of Property
Lawmakers are considering long-overdue civil asset forfeiture reform, and law enforcement leaders aren't happy.
Florida Cops Used Drones to Foil a Suicide Attempt
Cop tech can facilitate better policing, but it urgently needs more oversight.
Donald Trump Is Confused About Due Process
"Peoples lives are being shattered and destroyed by a mere allegation."
Whatever Happened to Michael Mann's Defamation Suit (2018 edition)
It's been over a year since a petition for rehearing en banc was filed and the D.C. Court of Appeals has yet to act.
White House Won't Declassify Dems' Memo on Campaign Surveillance—at Least Not Yet
Trump says he's inclined to do so, but letter expresses concerns about "sensitive passages."
New Jersey Cop Fired for Having Once Appeared in Fetish Films
Meanwhile, drunk driving and vehicular assault by officers are not firing offenses in Hudson County.
Someone Trying to Vanish My Post About Someone Trying to Vanish Another Post
In March, I wrote about a forged court order that someone was using to try to get Google to de-index online criticism of a New Britain, Conn. community activist (and volunteer city commissioner); now, someone has asked Google to de-index my post, plus a TechDirt post on the same subject.
Mass Surveillance Is One Chinese Export We Should Ban
Privacy law is eons behind surveillance technology
Immigration Authorities Want Access to All the Raw Intelligence the Feds Already Collected on You
And Donald Trump just might be the president to give ICE free rein.
John Perry Barlow, The Thomas Jefferson of Cyberspace, R.I.P.
Co-founder of the Electronic Frontier Foundation, and Grateful Dead lyricist, helped create the notion of "cyberspace" as realm of unprecedented liberty.
Senate Memo on the Surveillance of Carter Page Suggests FBI Was Misled by Steele
The Nunes memo says the FBI deceived the court. Grassley's memo suggests the FBI was tricked itself.
