Civil Liberties
Handing Out Pamphlets Is Not a Crime
A Michigan jury tampering case strikes at the heart of the First Amendment.
A Bunch of Senators Just Showed They Have No Idea How Facebook Works. They Want to Regulate It Anyway.
"If Facebook and other online companies will not or cannot fix their privacy invasions, then we are going to have to. We, the Congress."
This Illinois Town Might Not Have Intended to Ban My Family's 'Peashooter,' But They Still Did
A plain reading of the text suggests that Deerfield's new law covers all semi-automatic rifles that can hold more than 10 rounds.
Americans Can't Stand Each Other, So Let's Stop Forcing Our Preferences on One Another
If you want to avoid conflict among hostile groups, decentralize power-preferably to individuals.
London Mayor Launches Knife Control Campaign
London's murder numbers now exceed New York's. But the new murders teach old lessons: Drug wars are bad and weapon laws don't stop crime.
Why You Shouldn't Want Congress To Regulate Facebook & Other Social Media
We need to up our media literacy game, not delegate responsibility to politicians who have no idea what they're doing.
If Police Kill Because Citizens Are Afraid, That's a Problem
Fatal shootings in Portland and Brooklyn demonstrate how fear pushes officers to escalate encounters.
Beware Censorship by Proxy
Prodding private companies into self-censorship is a dangerous government tradition.
Wells Fargo Resists Union Threats Aimed at Getting It to Drop Gun Manufacturer Clients
"I do not believe that the American public wants banks to decide which legal products consumers can and cannot buy."
Free Speech Rights, Parental Rights, and Children with Gender Dysphoria
An interesting Arizona appellate decision rejecting a court's assignment of a treating therapist, and rejecting a gag order that limited parents' discussions with the child.
Second Amendment Does Not Apply to 'Assault Weapons,' Says U.S. District Judge
His obsession with Justice Scalia's aside in Heller about "weapons...most useful in military service" ignores Scalia writing of weapons "typically possessed by law-abiding citizens for lawful purposes."
Newspapers Care Much More About Bashing Sinclair Than Criticizing an Unconstitutional Attack on Free Speech
5 editorials call for the federal government to thwart Sinclair's expansion efforts in wake of creepy promo video; meanwhile you can count the number of anti-FOSTA eds on one finger
My Family's Peashooter Is Now an Illegal 'Assault Weapon' in This Illinois Town
Deerfield would fine residents up to $1,000 for owning one of a dizzying array of firearms.
Gawker Was Killed for Publishing Embarrassing Truths. That's Bad News.
Giving juries the power to destroy a journalism enterprise for being offensive is bad for free expression.
By Firing Kevin Williamson,The Atlantic Shows It Can't Handle Real Ideological Diversity
Williamson's rhetoric is inflammatory, but his views on abortion are not beyond the pale.
This 'Awesome Dude' Lost His Gun Rights by Saying Stupid Stuff on Reddit
A Florida case highlights the due process issues raised by gun violence restraining orders.
Cops Will Use Drones to Monitor Traffic at Coachella
"We want people to come here and have a good time and to feel safe."
Open Season on Russian Oligarchs, Prison Porn Ban Heads to Court, How the Media Got the Pulse Massacre Wrong: Reason Roundup
Plus: YouTube shooter bought and registered gun legally.
Hey, Beltway Denizens: Spies Are Tracking Your Phones, So Maybe Don't Ruin Encryption
The FBI is looking for a back door to your phone. So are some snoops in the FBI's back yard.
Banning 'Assault Weapons' Makes As Much Sense As Banning Opaque Backpacks
The gun control policies student activists favor are just as dubious as the school security measures they mock.
Video Shows YouTube Shooter Was Clearly 'Nuts.' What Happens Next Is Very Scary.
Get ready for ever-more-intrusive mental-health measures.
There's Almost Certainly Nothing Congress Could Have Done to Stop the YouTube Shooting
Looking for political or cultural calls to action in this act of violence is a fool's errand.
Can You Guess How Much Butt This Town Will Let You Show?
Everett, Washington, continues to wage war against scantily clad "bikini baristas."
Trump's Increasingly Lawless Quest to Enforce a Bogus Rule of Law on Immigration
He is trashing the First Amendment to stifle the immigrant rights movement.
GOP Senate Candidate Austin Petersen Wants You to Be Able to Legally Buy a Machine Gun
"Let's get the conversation to where people are talking not about limiting gun rights but expanding them."
Why the Supreme Court Reviews So Many Qualified Immunity Cases
Here's a theory, at least.
New Backpage Ruling Lays Bare Some of the Lies Undergirding FOSTA
The ruling allows a civil suit against Backpage to proceed for one of the case's three plaintiffs.
Mandatory Transparent Backpacks Violate Students' Privacy Rights
"My school is starting to feel like a prison."
Irrational Fear of Mass Shootings Can't Justify Unconstitutional Gun Control
Stinging insects kill more Americans than mass shooters do.
Sacramento Sheriff's Dept. SUV Knocks Down Police Abuse Protester, Then Drives Off
This is not how you rebuild those community ties.
Foreign Servers No Longer Safe From Justice Department Snooping, Trade War With China Heats Up, Kremlin Says Trump Has Requested White House Summit With Putin: Reason Roundup
Plus: Hackers take over Atlanta, demand ransom to lift lock on city computers.
Video of Cato Institute Book Forum on Keith Whittington's "Speak Freely: Why Universities Must Defend Free Speech"
The Forum features a talk by the author, with commentary by me.
ICE Trashes the First Amendment to Suppress Immigrant Activists
The Trump administration is violating the rule of law in the name of upholding it.
Court Rules That Seattle Law Banning Landlords From Screening 'Qualified' Tenants Is a Taking
The state court ruling also concluded the taking violates the state constitution because it is for a forbidden "private use," rather than a public one.
News Outlets Ignore Millennials' Skepticism of Gun Control
Youth opinion on firearms is far from monolithic.
California Politicians Propose Government Boycotts of Companies that Do Business With the NRA
Corporations are being asked to take sides in a gun control debate that has very little to do with them.
Silicon Valley's Ultimate Diversity Problem Is Ideological
More tech folks call themselves libertarian than anything else. So why are they afraid to speak up at work?
Mozilla's New Firefox Extension Will Try to Stop Facebook from Tracking You
But wouldn't have stopped the Cambridge Analytica incident
State Kills Anti-Porn Bill After Discovering More About Its Backer, Free Speech Win for FX's Feud, FISA Warrants Under Scrutiny: Reason Roundup
And President Trump is mad at Amazon for...ruining the postal service?
Shhh! Virginia Bars Can Host Happy Hour, but Can't Talk About It
Advertising "half-priced drinks" is legal. Advertising "two-for-one" drinks is not. Huh?
Inspector General's Office to Investigate FBI Surveillance of Carter Page
Did they follow appropriate procedures to get permission to wiretap?
Young Anti-Gun Demagogues Copy Their Elders
"There cannot be two sides," say the adolescent activists, tarring their opponents as NRA puppets.
March for Our Lives Kids Don't Know Just How Safe Schools Are
Students say your right to own a gun conflicts with their right to feel secure.
Justice John Paul Stevens Is Wrong About the Second Amendment, Again
The retired justice wants to claw back parts of the Bill of Rights.
