The Untested Self-Pardon
Plus: Hunter's guns, AI replacing dating, East German cars, and more...
Criminal Justice
Supreme Court Issues Flawed Ruling in Asset Forfeiture Case
But Justice Neil Gorsuch's concurring opinion suggests the Court may curb asset forfeiture in the future.
Reason Is a Finalist for 14 Southern California Journalism Awards
Nominated stories include journalism on messy nutrition research, pickleball, government theft, homelessness, and more.
Supreme Court Rules No Due Process Right to Preliminary Hearings in Civil Asset Forfeiture Cases
The cars of two Alabama women were seized for more than a year before courts found they were innocent owners. The Supreme Court says they had no constitutional right to a preliminary hearing.
The Government Fears This Privacy Tool
The Department of Justice indicted the creators of Samourai Wallet, an application that helps people spend their bitcoins anonymously.
No, Unions Aren't Having a Resurgence—and That's Good for Workers
Private unions have every right to exist, but that doesn't mean they're actually beneficial on net.
Michigan Supreme Court Allows Evidence Collected by Drone, Without a Warrant
The court declined to address whether the search violated the Fourth Amendment and merely held that the evidence could not be excluded in a civil case.
Stormy Daniels' 'Credibility Issues' Reflect a Broader Problem With Key Witnesses Against Trump
New York prosecutors are relying on testimony from several people who do not seem trustworthy.
An Atlanta Cop Killed This Man For Refusing To Sign a Ticket
Now his victim's family has been awarded a $3.8 million settlement.
Minnesota's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders Is Ineffective As Well As Unjust
A new report argues that the notorious program squanders taxpayer money while keeping people imprisoned without justification or recourse.
Murder Rates Are Plummeting. What Should We Make of It?
In data from over 200 cities, homicides are down a little over 19 percent when compared to a similar time frame in 2023.
Alabama's New Sex Trafficking Law Could Mean Life in Prison for Trafficking Victims
It's the war on drugs all over again, folks...
Even If You Support Police, Don't Ban People From Recording Them
Filming cops is a First Amendment right, and there are already plenty of laws against harassing them.
Migration and the "Military-Age Male" Fallacy
Don't fall for scaremongering about "military-age male" migrants crossing the border. They are actually less dangerous than native-born citizens of the same age and gender.
Trump Promises To Give Police 'Immunity From Prosecution'
The pledge, while mostly legally illiterate, offers a reminder of the former president's outlook on government accountability.
The New York Case Against Trump Relies on a 'Twisty' Legal Theory That Reeks of Desperation
To convert a hush money payment into 34 felonies, prosecutors are invoking an obscure state election law that experts say has never been used before.
A Year Before Albuquerque's Police Corruption Scandal Made Headlines, an Internal Probe Found Nothing
In 2022, police received a tip that officers were getting paid to make DWI cases disappear—the same allegation that prompted FBI raids in January.
This Elderly Man Was Arrested After Shooting a Burglar in Self-Defense—for Carrying the Gun Without a License
Vincent Yakaitis is unfortunately not the first such defendant. He will also not be the last.
Florida Police Departments Spent Thousands on Training Seminars Banned in 9 States
A New Jersey government watchdog said Street Cop Training instructors glorified violence, made discriminatory remarks, and offered unprofessional and unconstitutional advice to officers.
California Cops Locked an Innocent Man in a Sex Offender Unit for 3 Days
Victor Manuel Martinez Wario was jailed for a total of five days, spending three of those in special housing for sex offenders.
Rescheduling Marijuana Does Not Address Today's Central Cannabis Issue
Moving marijuana to Schedule III, as the DEA plans to do, leaves federal pot prohibition essentially untouched.
Feds Worried About Anarchists Gluing the Locks to a Government Facility
A FOIA request reveals what the FBI and Homeland Security had to say about anarchist activities on May Day 2015.
Journalism Is Not a Crime, Even When It Offends the Government
Julian Assange and Priscilla Villarreal were both arrested for publishing information that government officials wanted to conceal.
The Difference Between Justice and the Rule of Law
The two are not the same, and may sometimes be in conflict with each other.
Alabama Woman Arrested for Refusing To Give a Cop Her I.D.
Alabama law doesn't let police demand individuals' government identification. But they keep arresting people anyway.
Illinois Won't Let Him Do His Job Filing Paperwork—Unless He Gets a Private Detective License
David Knott helps clients retrieve unclaimed property from the government. The state has made it considerably harder for him to do that.
Los Angeles Undermines Freedom of Information In Suit Over Police Photos
City gives journalist photos. Journalist publishes photos. City…sues journalist?
Where Do Libertarians Stand on the Campus Wars?
Plus: A listener asks the editors about the magical thinking behind the economic ideas of Modern Monetary Theory.
Backpage: A Blueprint for Squelching Speech
How the Backpage prosecution helped create a playbook for suppressing online speech, debanking disfavored groups, and using "conspiracy" charges to imprison the government's targets
A Texas Reporter Busted for Asking Questions Asks SCOTUS To Reject the Criminalization of Journalism
Priscilla Villarreal is appealing a 5th Circuit decision that dismissed her First Amendment lawsuit against Laredo police and prosecutors.
The Court Was Right To Overturn Harvey Weinstein's Rape Conviction
The ruling has nothing to do with #MeToo. It is about ensuring a fair trial—a principle that applies no matter how unsympathetic the defendant.
SCOTUS Weighs the Risk of Presidential Timidity Against the Risk of Presidential Impunity
Most of the justices seem skeptical of granting Donald Trump complete immunity from criminal prosecution for "official acts."
Judge Acquits Backpage Co-Founder Michael Lacey on Most Counts
The court found insufficient evidence to sustain 53 of 84 remaining counts against Lacey.
She Only Served 10 Months Behind Bars. Florida Still Slapped Her With A $127,000 Bill.
Under Florida's "pay-to-stay" law, inmates are charged $50 for every day of their sentence—including time they never spent incarcerated.
Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee Quietly Kills Clemency Initiative for Drug-Free School Zone Offenders
Lee announced in 2021 that he was fast-tracking clemency petitions for inmates serving mandatory minimums that had since been repealed. Earlier this year, he scrapped the program with applications still pending.
The Alarming Implications of Trump's Immunity Claim
The Supreme Court will decide whether former presidents can avoid criminal prosecution by avoiding impeachment and removal.
After Iowa Police Ignored Her Pleas for Help, Her Estranged Husband Killed Her
Angela Prichard was murdered after Bellevue police officers repeatedly refused to enforce a restraining order against her abusive husband.
Why We Remember Columbine
Some crimes linger in public memory and some crimes fade away. The Columbine massacre didn't just stay with us—it created a script for future murders.
Appeals Court Rules That Cops Can Physically Make You Unlock Your Phone
The 9th Circuit determined that forcibly mashing a suspect's thumb into his phone to unlock it was akin to fingerprinting him at the police station.
Oklahoma Prisoners Say They Were Locked In Filthy, Tiny Shower Stalls for Days
At least one inmate claims that the shower stalls, which were just 3 feet by 3 feet, were covered in human feces.
The Manufactured Crisis of Migrant Terrorists at the Border
Exaggerated threats of terrorists crossing the southern border lead to costly, disproportionate policy decisions.
Alvin Bragg's 'Election Interference' Narrative Is Nonsensical
Since Donald Trump's alleged falsification of business records happened after he was elected president, he clearly was not trying to ensure that outcome.
U.S. Sentencing Commission Restricts Federal Judges' Ability To Use Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing
The little-known but outrageous practice allowed judges to enhance defendants' sentences using conduct a jury acquitted them of.
