Supreme Court Agrees To Hear Case of Alaska Pilot Whose $95,000 Plane Was Seized Over a 6-Pack of Beer
Ken Jouppi's Eighth Amendment challenge asks the Court to decide whether a fine must be proportional to the gravity of the crime.
Criminal Justice
Contradictions of Socialist Prison Abolitionism
Many "democratic socialists" want to abolish prisons. But this is in conflict with their objective of making many more activities illegal.
ICE Keeps Shooting People. Here's a Way Congress Can Rein It In.
Giving people a pathway to sue federal immigration officials for violating constitutional rights is one way Congress can help hold the rogue agency accountable.
Utah's New Rule Allowing Propensity Evidence in Sexual Assault Prosecutions
While propensity evidence is generally inadmissible in criminal cases, an exception for sexual assault cases is both common practice and good public policy.
By Blessing Corruption, Todd Blanche Has Disqualified Himself From the Job He Wants
Trump’s nominee for attorney general has repeatedly subverted justice to benefit his boss.
Debate: What Actually Happened to Rep. Ro Khanna in the West Bank?
Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss the strange turn of events in the congressman's trip.
Did a "Minneapolis Effect" and Later De-Policing Cause Firearms Crimes to Spike in 2020?
My essay on the topic collects the available empirical research. There is support for the theory that, as police across the nation pulled back from some forms of proactive policing after protests surrounding George Floyd's killing in Minneapolis, homicides and gun violence increased as a result.
How the Right to Trial Became a Legal Fiction
Half a century after approving coercive plea bargaining, the Supreme Court is beginning to recognize its costs.
If You Get Drunk and Brandish a Fake Gun in a Waymo, Don't Blame the Cameras
Firing a toy gun out of a camera-covered robotaxi while underage drinking was never going to end well.
Florida Police Officer Used Mass Surveillance Network to Stalk Romantic Interest
Newly published dashcam footage shows a sheriff’s deputy driving recklessly to pull over an actress he’d met while working on the set of the TV show Bad Monkey.
'Scrap It and Start All Over': Ex-Bush and Obama Officials Say the War on Terror's Powers Have Gone Too Far
In a rare display of candor, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales and former Homeland Security chief Jeh Johnson reflected on torture, Guantanamo Bay, and the 2001 Authorization for Use of Military Force.
Police Used a Truck Inspection To Search for Drugs. The 7th Circuit Said the Fourth Amendment Forbids It.
Cops stopped a semitruck because of a drug tip, then tried to dress the illegal search up as a routine inspection.
'I Would Not Wish This on Anyone': Prisoners Fight Back Against Solitary Confinement in Oregon
A proposed class action lawsuit claims Oregon is subjecting prisoners to unconstitutional and inhumane conditions in solitary confinement.
Afroman on Free Speech, Government Abuse, and Election 2028
"I want a smaller government. I want to get crooked judges and police officers out of the government," the rapper tells Reason's Andrew Heaton.
A Trump-Appointed Judge Quashes a Subpoena Aimed at Validating the President's Stolen-Election Fantasy
The decision rebukes the DOJ for demanding "private and sensitive" information about Georgia election workers "with no legitimate law enforcement purpose."
The Supreme Court's 'Reasonable Expectation of Privacy' Test Defies Expectations
Neil Gorsuch proposes an alternative to a Fourth Amendment standard that has proven to be an unreliable safeguard against government snooping.
New Homeland Security Task Forces Target Immigrants Over Sex Work
The Trump administration is protecting Americans from an invasion of illicit handjobs.
Europe, A.C., and the Housing Exception to America's Economic Success Story
Plus: L.A. criminally charges contractors offering to build an ADU in the Palisades, South Carolina streamlines squatter removal, and a Florida city uses eminent domain to thwart state housing law.
77-Year-Old Florida Veteran Investigated For Sending an Official a Postcard Saying 'You Lack Values'
High-level state officials launched a threat investigation over a harmless postcard to Florida's chief financial officer.
Reason Earns 7 Southern California Journalism Awards
First-place wins include work on America's gerontocracy, an interview with anti–death penalty activist Helen Prejean, and some Star Wars comedy.
The 5th Circuit Says a Houston Cop Reasonably Killed 2 Innocent People Falsely Accused of Selling Heroin
The officer's avowed reasons for killing Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas were contradicted by the physical evidence.
Neil Gorsuch Urges Supreme Court To Correct 2 Wrong Turns That Undermined Civil Liberties
The justice criticizes the Court’s endorsement of coercive plea bargaining and its embrace of dubious Fourth Amendment doctrines.
He Spent Over 80 Days in Jail After Florida Cops Arrested Him on Faulty Facial Recognition
Police have arrested at least 15 people in recent years based on bad facial recognition hits.
In Chatrie, Neil Gorsuch Reiterates His Critique of 2 Dubious Fourth Amendment Doctrines
The justice argues that the "reasonable expectation of privacy" test and the third-party doctrine are indefensible in theory and unworkable in practice.
In Big Win for Fourth Amendment Advocates, the Supreme Court Says 'Geofence Warrants' Count as a 'Search'
Understanding Chatrie v. United States.
Good Riddance to 'Alligator Alcatraz,' a Cruel, Expensive, and Pointless Authoritarian Stunt
Less than a year after launching with its own merchandise line, "Alligator Alcatraz" is officially shutting down.
New Jersey Supreme Court Requires Transparency for Facial Recognition Evidence
Prosecutors in New Jersey must disclose how the technology is used in criminal cases, the state’s Supreme Court ruled.
DOJ Case Against Minneapolis Antifa Groups Has Concerning First Amendment Implications
"This indictment appears to be going way overboard, using a sledgehammer to address what might have been some infractions."
Supreme Court Ruling Offers Hope to an Iowa Marijuana User Who Got 4 Years for Owning Guns
The Supreme Court's decision in United States v. Hemani could open the door to relief for cannabis consumers convicted of illegal gun possession.
Who Owns Your Data?
The Supreme Court could be poised to decide whether it's you or Big Tech companies.
SCOTUS Unanimously Ruled That the Second Amendment Trumps Anti-Drug Sentiment
The decision is a modest but welcome step toward rectifying the injustice of criminalizing conduct that violates no one’s rights.
Trump Blames Reflecting Pool Disaster on 'Vandals'
Robby Soave and Amber Duke discuss how the refurbishment of D.C.’s Reflecting Pool has gone off the rails.
Clarence Thomas Explains Why the Commerce Clause Cannot Justify Federal Bans on Gun Possession
Even under the Supreme Court's highly elastic understanding of that clause, Thomas says, such laws do not qualify as regulation of interstate commerce.
Supreme Court Limits the Ability To Sue Prison Guards for Religious Liberty Violations
Understanding the stakes of Landor v. Louisiana Department of Corrections.
Trump Says His Task Force Is Fighting a Foreign 'Invasion.' It's Busting Americans for Drugs Instead.
How Trump rebranded the war on drugs as a fight against illegal immigration
The Secret Origins of 'Conspiracy Theory'
A new book shows how a phrase made its way from the crime pages to our political arguments—and picked up a passel of meanings along the way.
A Supreme Court Decision Restricting Appeal Waivers Underlines the Injustice of Coercive Plea Bargaining
The Supreme Court ruled that "an agreement not to appeal a sentence is unenforceable when it would result in a miscarriage of justice."
ICE Largely Abandons Plan To Turn Warehouses Into Migrant Detention Facilities
The Department of Homeland Security plans to sell or offload seven warehouses it originally purchased to house migrants.
Supreme Court Makes It Clear There Is No Drug Exception to the Second Amendment
The unanimous decision upholding the gun rights of cannabis consumers is striking given the Supreme Court's long history of accommodating the war on drugs.
SCOTUS Says Federal Prosecution of Marijuana-Using Gun Owner Violates the Second Amendment
A landmark win for the right to keep and bear arms in United States v. Hemani.
Louisiana Cops Threatened To Arrest a Man for Handing Out Religious Leaflets. They Got Qualified Immunity.
Richard Hershey is asking the Supreme Court to overrule a 5th Circuit decision that blocked the lawsuit provoked by that obvious First Amendment violation.
