Why Conservative Republicans Are Worried About License Plate Cameras
Recent comments by Greg Abbott and Ron DeSantis reflect a bipartisan backlash against warrantless surveillance.
Criminal Justice
Why America's Prisons Keep Failing
C.J. Ciaramella discusses 250 years of prison reform, the crisis facing state prisons, and whether America can build a more humane system.
The American Prison Experiment: A 250-Year History of Good Intentions and Bad Results
A strange trip through the U.S. prison system's never-ending cycle of failure and reform
A Federal Indictment Charges an ICE Officer With Lying About a Shooting That DHS Eagerly Defended
The habitually dishonest department uncritically accepted a story that was immediately contradicted by video footage and physical evidence.
The Right to Trial is Vanishing. Could Bolder Juries Save It?
A new campaign by the Cato Institute aims to educate jurors on their right to vote their conscience against unjust laws and sentences.
The Lindsay Clancy Jury Was Tasked With an Impossible Question
In the court of public opinion, there is little room for ambiguity here. But those who watched the trial know that reality is far less satisfying.
This U.S. Citizen Is Suing ICE for Arresting Him 3 Times. His Lawsuit Is Moving Forward.
Despite carrying a REAL ID, Leo Garcia Venegas has been repeatedly detained by immigration agents. Now he’s suing to block immigration raids targeting Latinos on private construction sites.
Lindsay Clancy, Heehaw the Donkey, and New Magneto Origins
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi discuss the stalled jury deliberations in Lindsay Clancy’s case and the police killing of Heehaw.
A New Bill Reflects the Bipartisan Backlash Against Flock-Enabled Mass Surveillance
Criticism from Trump allies and recent survey results show that resistance to widespread deployment of automated license plate readers spans the political spectrum.
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.
Georgia Cop Claimed Petting Zoo Donkey Was Charging at His Team When He Shot It
In an incident report, the officer who shot the donkey wrote that he had to shoot the donkey to save himself and a K-9 team from injury.
Wisconsin Cops Used Flock Over 100 Times To Track a Navy Veteran After He Lawfully Recorded a Traffic Stop
A federal lawsuit claims the Waukesha County Sheriff’s Office used the Flock cameras without a legitimate government purpose and in retaliation against the vet for exercising his First Amendment right.
Virginia Mom Gets 6-Month Suspended Jail Sentence for Letting 5-Year-Old Walk to the Pond
The government also placed Karyann Parkinson on its child abuse and neglect registry, where she will remain for seven years.
The Reason Prison Essay Experiment
It's time to reexamine our assumptions about prisons and punishment.
The 8th Circuit Lets the Government Retroactively Repair Unconstitutional Gun Cases Against Pot Smokers
A SCOTUS petition argues that the practice, which allows a judicial finding of dangerousness based on a preponderance of the evidence, violates the Fifth Amendment.
Cops in Polk County, Georgia, Fatally Shoot Petting Zoo Donkey
The donkey's owner says officers wandered onto her property without permission and shot the small donkey because they felt threatened.
What Craigslist and Backpage Can Tell Us About the Meta Settlement
It doesn't matter if you're right. If you don't cave, the government might stop at nothing to destroy you.
The Belated Backlash Against Flock Cameras
Americans are starting to recognize the dangers of pervasive surveillance by automated license plate readers.
Inside Venezuela's El Helicoide Prison: How Dissident Jesús Armas Endured Torture and Outlasted Maduro
For helping prove that Maduro lost the 2024 election, Jesús Armas spent more than a year in Venezuela’s most-feared prison. He’s lucky it wasn’t more.
Milo Yiannopoulos Wanted Millions Deported. He Didn't Mean Himself.
"I mean bad immigrants," Yiannopoulos said in a 2016 interview with Joe Rogan. "I don't mean handsome, charming, successful, blonde-haired British immigrants."
The CIA Is Making AI-Generated Reports for Local Police
The CIA has been using artificial intelligence to write “open source intelligence” analyses, which are being distributed to local police via DHS “fusion centers,” according to documents obtained by Reason.
Ron DeSantis Says Flock Cameras Are 'Out of Control,' But Florida's Already Flooded With Surveillance
Florida police departments have been adding drones, facial recognition technology, and license plate readers to their arsenals for years.
He Spent Nearly 6 Years in Prison Based on the Word of a Notoriously Dishonest Houston Drug Cop
In a federal lawsuit, Byron Prophet argues that police supervisors "turned a blind eye" for years as Gerald Goines framed innocent people.
Surveillance Camera Saboteurs Are Getting Government Officials' Attention
Sometimes direct action is the only way to get politicians to consider civil liberties.
Behind Bars: October 2026 Puzzle
"Section of the Bill of Rights that forbids cruel and unusual punishment"
Post-9/11 Fear Grew the Surveillance State. 25 Years Later, It's Still Growing.
The U.S. government responded in ways that are so integrated into daily life that we no longer recognize them.
Police in Atlanta Settle Eric André Lawsuit, End Airport Drug Searches
While the settlement is a good thing, it's unfortunately still the case that at airports, the Bill of Rights is more of a list of suggestions.
America Is Building a Surveillance State Like China's
"If there are Flock cameras in your city, they are tracking, logging and sharing your movements without a warrant," warns the ACLU.
Review: A Novel Capturing the Cruelty of Mass Incarceration
The Hill resembles author Harriet Clark's own experience.
Jason Arday's Downfall, Lindsay Clancy Case, and the Surveillance State
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi take on press restrictions, the war on drugs, Flock cameras, data centers, dating, punk rock, and why war is still bad, actually.
Trump Is Taking Credit for D.C.'s Crime Drop. Here's What the Data Say.
Crime in D.C. had already fallen 29 percent before the National Guard showed up, yet the Pentagon plans to keep at least 2,500 troops in the city through 2029.
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.
Does Gun Control Make Us Safer?
Statistician Aaron Brown and professor Robert Spitzer debate the efficacy of gun control.
ICE Admits It Investigated a Critic Based on Constitutionally Protected Speech
The agency’s attempt to intimidate David Streever is at the center of a First Amendment case.
Appeals Court Upholds Right To Film Police—but Grants Immunity to Cops Who Arrested a Connecticut Videographer
The 2nd Circuit is the latest federal circuit court to find a First Amendment right to record the police.
"As If These Blunders Were Not Enough," U.S. Attorney Office Management …
"decided to double book the same [prosecutor] for two trials on the same day," writes federal judge in blocking felon gun possession prosecution because of government failure to comply with Speedy Trial Act.
Trump's Assault on Judicial Review Undermines a Crucial Safeguard Against Tyranny
In one case after another, the president has tried to cut the courts out of the picture painted by the Framers.
Flock Safety's New Privacy Rules Do Little To Ease Concerns Over ALPR Surveillance
The company’s attempts to protect Americans’ privacy “will do nothing to protect innocent people from warrantless mass surveillance,” says an Institute for Justice attorney.
Woke 1.0, House of the Dragon, and the Absurd Politics of Surveillance
Robby Soave and Christian Britschgi break down the absurd political fights about America’s surveillance state before jumping into House of the Dragon.
She Spent 7 Months in Legal Hell After Cops Used Flock Surveillance To Identify the Wrong Car
From wrongful arrests to officers stalking exes, license plate cameras keep exposing police failures.
