Student Charged With Manslaughter for Texting Boyfriend to 'Go Die'
The 21-year-old faces criminal punishment for text messages to her suicidal boyfriend.
Overcriminalization
States Are Easing Arbitrary Licensing Barriers to Work for People With Criminal Records
This year, Mississippi and North Carolina both ditched a vague "good moral character" clause that kept occupational licensing out of reach for people with criminal records.
Manchester Teen Faces Sex Offender Status for Touching 17-Year-Old on the Arm, Waist
"Touching someone's arm to get their attention, I would have thought was normal."
Why Are More Americans Than Ever Getting Busted?
Arrests for petty crimes, like underage drinking, protect nobody and do long-term damage to people’s lives.
Boston Judge Turns Stupid Straight Pride Parade Fighting Into Bizarre Constitutional Drama
An attempt by the district attorney to drop charges against nonviolent protesters was overruled.
New York Cops Protest Pantaleo's Firing by Hassling Fewer People. Crime Is Still Going Down.
The police union's attempt to punish the city for dismissing Daniel Pantaleo is instead showing the problem of overpolicing,
A Dodgeball Game in Michigan Ends in Assault Charges for 10-Year-Old
A school criminalizes a playground injury.
A Pregnant Woman in Alabama Was Shot in the Stomach and Miscarried. Now, Alabama Cops Are Charging Her With Manslaughter.
What the hell is going on with this state?
Rampant Criminal Laws Make Bullies and Tyrants Rejoice
When "almost anyone can be arrested for something," no one is safe.
Dissenting From a Decision Blocking a Retaliatory Arrest Claim, Neil Gorsuch Notes That 'Almost Anyone Can Be Arrested for Something'
The Trump appointee warns that "little would be left of our First Amendment liberties" if cops could punish people who irk them by finding a legal reason to bust them.
Florida Makes Possessing Child Sex Dolls a Felony
The new law rests on unsupported premises and vague language to penalize a victimless crime.
Florida Brands Petty Thieves as Lifelong Felons, But That Might Change
Florida's $300 felony theft threshold turns petty crimes into prison time. That might change soon.
Federal Judge Rules New York's Dumb 'Gravity Knife' Law Is Unconstitutionally Vague
Groups have complained for years that the laws allowed police and prosecutors to selectively charge people carrying common pocket knives.
Homeland Security and Florida Cops Spied on Chinese Massage Workers for Months but Still Couldn't Find Evidence of Human Trafficking
Nine women face felony prostitution charges and hundreds of their customers have been arrested. Florida says it's the real victim.
No, Gov. Cuomo, Journalists Shouldn't Be an Extra-Protected Class: Reason Roundup
Plus: Rand Paul has "never been prouder" of Trump, the Women's March clashes with the Park Service, and Vegas' first Stripper Parade & Expo is coming soon.
Human Trafficking Grant Goes to Arrest Suspected Victims in Tucson
A Tucson Weekly investigation finds that federal funds to "fight sex trafficking" are actually perpetuating it.
New York City Wants to Make It Illegal to Send a Sexy Pic Without Affirmative Consent
It's been dubbed "NYC's Anti-Airdrop Dick Pic Law," but the bill is much broader than that.
SEC Goes After Cryptocurrency 'Influencers,' Starting With DJ Khaled and Floyd Mayweather: Reason Roundup
Plus: the First Amendment problems with prosecuting Wikileaks and the trans troops ban is dealt another blow.
Jamaican Musician Gets 8-Year Sentence for Weed He Says He Bought Legally
Patrick Beadle was convicted on a drug trafficking charge, even though there's very little evidence he was a dealer.
House Passes Bill to Reclassify Dozens of Offenses as 'Crimes of Violence'
Opponents say the bill, rushed to the floor without a hearing, would dangerously expand what's considered an "aggravated offense."
Public Schools Threaten Parents With Jail Time for Truant Kids
Those tykes are worth big bucks to institutional educators, so if you don't hand 'em over, you might be slapped with fines or even incarceration.
More Than 7 Million Americans May Have Suspended Licenses for Unpaid Tickets and Court Fines
The practice traps the poor in a spiral of debt, hobbling their ability to pay off their fines.
British Politicians Declare War on Knives
Having failed to thwart crime with gun bans, British officials now want to restrict what may be the most useful tool ever invented.
Law Prohibiting 'Revenge Porn' Violates First Amendment, Says Texas Appeals Court
The state law targeted people who share erotic photographs of others without their consent.
In Oklahoma, Inmates Could Be Gassed to Death by a Substance Unfit to Kill Pets
The American Veterinary Medical Association states that nitrogen may be "distressing" for any animal other than birds.
Kansas Registers Drug Offenders as Well as Sex Offenders
But a new bill could change that.
Florida Lobbyist Says There's No Data on Opioid Trafficking Laws. There Is. Reason Published It.
A Reason investigation showed the laws are used to hammer low-level, nonviolent offenders with mandatory minimum sentences.
Cancer Survivor Fined $2,260 for Providing Rides to Hospital Patients
Hospital describes her services as "invaluable."
Philly D.A. Larry Krasner Ends Cash Bail for Many Offenses, Some Felonies
The new district attorney's reform train keeps rolling.
Tennessee Bill Would Make It Easier for Ex-Convicts to Get Jobs
Lawmakers are right to seek occupational licensing reform.
Doctors Call for Decriminalization of Self-Induced Abortion
With abortion pills easily accessible online, the issue could be a big one in coming years.
The Year in Teen Sexting Panic
From cops to Congress, overreactions to teen sexting have reached new heights in 2017.
Starting in 2018, Life in Prison for Oregon Sex Crimes
Locking people up in perpetuity "may satisfy our sense of moral outrage, but it does not make good policy," opponents warn.
Prostitution Ad Ban Creeps Forward, Threatening Social Media and Sex Workers
The bill would gut Section 230 and make sex advertising a federal crime.
French President Vows Crackdown on 'Verbal Violence' Against Women
And he wants to censor online porn, too.
Husband Gets Human-Trafficking Charge for Driving His Wife to a Motel
There was no trafficking victim here-just a couple attempting private sexual activity with another consenting adult. But Maryland cops don't care.
The Power of the Prosecutor
Popehat's Ken White and author John Pfaff on the need for reform.
House Overwhelmingly Supports Bill Subjecting Teen Sexters to 15 Years in Federal Prison
The bill was requested by the Department of Justice after federal prosecutors bungled a child exploitation case.
Topeka Teen With Violent Pimp Faces More Than 10 Years in Prison for Sex Trafficking
Kansas CPS said Anthony Long was to stay far away from then 16-year-old Hope Zeferjohn. He didn't listen. Now she's being treated as his accomplice.
This Former Congressman Is Against the War on Drugs
Trey Radel explains why he's not "just another tea party asswipe who got busted for drugs and voted to drug test food stamp recipients."
The Law Is an Ass, but this Georgia Sheriff Who Arrested His Ex-Wife Is a Total Asshole
Claimed she and another women defamed him by calling him "POS" on Facebook.
Will a New Missouri Law Turn Schoolyard Fights Into Felonies? Probably Not.
The new law actually removes school-specific language from the definition of third-degree assault.
California Legislators Look to Reform Bail System to Stop Punishing the Poor
Effort to stop using money to determine who can go free.
50 Days in Jail for Waiting on a Ride
"You got people who just want to ride around and randomly take people to jail for nothing."
Has President Obama Been Good or Bad for Criminal Justice Reform?
Washington Post columnist Radley Balko talks progress on criminal justice reform, the state of crime in America, and ways to reform policing.
Trump's Insane Immigration Plan Would Add Yet Another Unnecessary Mandatory Minimum
Fast-tracked immigration prosecutions have already cost an estimated $7 billion. Now Trump wants to add mandatory minimum sentences.
