Reason Wins 5 Southern California Journalism Awards
Everything from best political/government reporting to best satire, plus 5 silver medals and 9 bronzes
Criminal Justice
Cops Try to Shoot a Dog, Kill a Teenager Instead
Sheriff's deputies in LA kill a teen who was trying to restrain a dog they said charged at them "aggressively."
SCOTUS Says You Can't Lose Your Citizenship for Lying About Your Weight
The Court unanimously rejects the government's position that any misstatement by an applicant can justify denaturalization years later.
3 Reasons Why Eric Holder Is the Perfect Presidential Candidate for the Democratic Party (Though Not America)
He's an intolerant deep-state hypocrite, for starters.
What You Didn't See in That Shocking Evergreen Segment: Michael Moynihan Dishes in The Fifth Column
Podcast also argues over the Philando Castile verdict and Otto Warmbier's critics
Philando Castile's 'Audacity To Smoke Marijuana' in Front of Child Doomed Him, Says Cop Who Killed Him
Welcome to one of the darkest corners of your War on Drugs, ladies and gentlemen.
More Evidence That Eric Holder's Charging Memo Helped Drug Offenders
It looks like the policy Jeff Sessions rescinded did have a significant impact on the sentences received by nonviolent, low-level defendants.
Should the Cop Who Killed Philando Castile Face Federal Charges?
Although SCOTUS says otherwise, trying Jeronimo Yanez again for the same shooting would effectively be double jeopardy.
Two Phony Excuses for Shooting Philando Castile
Jeronimo Yanez's defenders falsely portray Castile as a disobedient stoner.
When Cops Lie
After being falsely labeled a sexual predator, a man gets justice. But why is the officer still working?
Milwaukee Jury Acquits Ex-Cop in Police Shooting Case
The cop was fired when charges in an unrelated sexual assault case were filed against him.
Heroin Conviction Vacated in Only Case Preet Bharara Went to Court for as U.S. Attorney
The conviction was secured in February.
Clarence Thomas Attacks Civil Asset Forfeiture, Lower Court Follows His Lead
Asset forfeiture "has led to egregious and well-chronicled abuses."
Pennsylvania's Top Court Says Police Videos Are Public, But Lawmakers Are Already Removing Access
This win for government transparency appears to have an expiration date.
Pennsylvania Assembly Calls For Annual Audits of Everything Cops Seize
Tepid asset forfeiture reforms don't include conviction before they can take your valuables.
NRA-TV Host: Cop Who Killed Philando Castile 'Screwed Up Big Time'
"Yanez walking away from this case a free and clear man is just wrong," says Colion Noir.
Philando Castile Video Shows a Cop Who Panicked and Killed an Innocent Man
Officer Jeronimo Yanez's claim that he saw Castile drawing a gun is utterly implausible.
The NRA Shuns a Second Amendment Martyr
Philando Castile died because he exercised his right to bear arms.
Read Jeff Sessions' Utterly Illogical Defense of Tough Drug Sentences
The attorney general says there are no low-level, nonviolent drug offenders in federal prison.
Juries Can Acquit the Guilty, 9th Circuit Says, but 'There Is No Right to Nullification'
A medical marijuana provider unsuccessfully argues that improper jury instructions made his conviction invalid.
Teen Found Guilty of Manslaughter for Texting Suicidal Boyfriend
The law should not treat words as violence.
Colorado's Tough New Forfeiture Law Provides Real Police Oversight, Transparency
Governor signs bill requiring police to report seizures and making it harder for cops to bypass state rules.
Poor Neighborhoods Hit Hardest by Asset Forfeiture in Chicago, Data Shows
Here's a map of 23,000 times over the past five years that police in Cook County seized property and cash.
The Power of the Prosecutor
Popehat's Ken White and author John Pfaff on the need for reform.
Bail Reformers Seek to Keep the Poor from Being Stuck Behind Bars
Legislation tries to end lack of money as an excuse for keeping non-dangerous people in cells until trial.
Cops Have Lost Control of Their Sex-Trafficking Panic, and It's Beautiful
Even the police can't control human-trafficking hysteria anymore, and it could backfire for them.
Trump May Commit a Felony to Cover Up Nonexistent Crimes
The president's implausible and gratuitous contradiction of Comey could be a crime if he repeats it to federal investigators.
Congress Wants to Let Cops Wiretap Sex Workers, the CDC Study Them, and Homeland Security Screen Them
A batch of frightening new bills take aim at all sorts of civil liberties under the guise of stopping sexual exploitation.
Rand Paul on Blocking Indefinite Detention and Saudi Arms Sales
In an interview, the Kentucky senator laments that "there's very little of this attorney general, this Department of Justice, doing anything favorable towards criminal justice or towards civil liberties."
Students Harassed in Futile Schoolwide Drug Raid File Civil Rights Lawsuit
The suit accuses officers of violating the teens' Fourth and 14th Amendment rights.
Man Free After Serving 25 Years for Murder Linked to Switched Bullets
The Detroit Crime Lab, shut down in 2008 for negligence, switched test bullets with autopsy bullets in order to convict Desmond Ricks.
What the Hell Was John McCain Trying to Say When He Questioned Comey?
In comparing Trump and Clinton, the senator apparently meant to highlight the distinction between impropriety and criminality.
Prison Unions Punish California Taxpayers
Costs are rising even as the prison population gets smaller.
Jeff Sessions Says Social Media, Encrypted Apps Hamper War on 'Modern Slavery'
These are the tools of pornographers, "sextortionists," and human traffickers, Sessions told a police conference this week.
Cop Breaks 17-Year-Old Girl's Jaw at Library, Lawsuit Alleges
The cop fell on the girl while trying to remove her from the library. He was suspended without pay for 40 hours.
Meet the Texas Lawmaker Fighting Trump on Civil Asset Forfeiture
Konni Burton has emerged as the state's fiercest opponent of civil asset forfeiture.
'Immigrants Are Responsible for Substantial Economic Growth'
New MassTLC study richly documents how newcomers grow the economy, cause less crime than natives, and do high-tech jobs that Americans won't do.
Philly Family Sues City Over Fatal Police Shooting
Don't trust government to investigate its own abuses.
Child Molesters Face Shorter Sentences Than Child Porn Viewers. That's Wrong.
Understanding why the folks who look at kiddie porn often get longer sentences than the people who molest children in real life.
GOP Maps Out New Ways to Throw People in Federal Prison
Senators drafting massive combination bill with "Kate's Law" and "Back the Blue" mandatory minimum sentences that are expensive, unneeded.
SCOTUS Rejects Deportation of Immigrant Who Had Sex With His 16-Year-Old Girlfriend When He Was 20
The decision highlights the importance of drawing distinctions among "sex crimes."
'Operation Big Bad John' Used 75 Cops, Six Federal Agencies to Catch 13 Sex Buyers
Naturally, they're portraying it as a success.
