Criminal Justice
The $2 Drug Test Keeping Inmates in Solitary
Reason tried out the field test kits used to test for drugs in prison. They were unreliable and confusing.
The FBI Returned This Innocent Couple's Safe Deposit Box. It Refuses To Give Back Many Others—and Is Trying To Seize $85 Million in Cash.
"It makes me feel like the government is preying on the vulnerable and the weak to line their own pockets."
Study on Bloodstain Pattern Analysis Finds 'Conclusions Were Often Erroneous'
Bloodstain pattern analysis is one of several forensic techniques that has come under scrutiny in recent years for its lack of established error rates.
When Is a Civil Forfeiture Based on Drug Offenses Excessive? Always.
The question of proportionality assumes that punishment is appropriate for peaceful conduct that violates no one's rights.
The 'California Dream' Isn't Dead. Yet.
California’s problems are indeed daunting, but even troubled San Francisco is still a lovely city.
Indiana Supreme Court Finally Puts an End to the Timbs Asset Forfeiture Case - "Reminiscent of Captain Ahab's Chase of the White Whale Moby Dick"
The case has generated three state supreme court decisions, plus a landmark ruling by the federal Supreme Court.
Indiana Said the Government Should Be Able To Take Everything You Own if You Commit a Drug Crime. The State Supreme Court Wasn't Having It.
After eight years, Tyson Timbs finally gets to keep his Land Rover—once and for all.
Over 24 Cops Raided the Wrong Address and Wrecked an Elderly Man's Home. They All Got Qualified Immunity.
There will be no justice for Onree Norris.
Cop Flipped Pregnant Woman's SUV While She Was Searching for a Safe Place To Pull Over
Arkansas cops love this insane practice they call "precision immobilization technique"—slamming into moving vehicles, sometimes over simple traffic stops.
The FBI Secretly Ran an Encrypted Messaging Service To Conduct the Same Old Drug War Stings
Plus: ACLU identity crisis, Texas bans vaccine rules, and more...
Can Republicans Be Persuaded To Restrict Qualified Immunity?
Polling shows a sharp partisan divide on the issue, but it also suggests that compromise might be possible.
This Professor Shared Body Camera Footage of Cops Strip-Searching a Minor. Now, Prosecutors Want To Throw Him in Jail for It.
The move is a direct assault on the First Amendment.
New Yorkers Are Watched by More Than 15,000 Surveillance Cameras
People have only official assurances that the technology isn’t being used to invade their privacy.
She Was Sentenced to 21 Years in Prison for Handing Drugs to a Friend Who Overdosed. A Federal Court Wasn't Having It.
The case is a good reminder of the far-reaching effects of the war on drugs.
This Week's Podcasts
Discussions of this week's decisions in Cooley and Van Buren, and the Warren Court case of Katzenbach v. Morgan
Barely Legal Strippers Now Fully Illegal in Texas
The penalty for employing 18- to 20-year-olds to work nude, topless, or "in a sexually oriented commercial activity" is now 2 to 20 years in prison.
Supreme Court Places Limits on What Actions Violate Federal Hacking Law
Prosecutors like to use the law against people who clearly weren't engaged in hacking. The Court is trying to rein them in.
A Pennsylvania Police Chief Resigns After Pleading Guilty to Threatening a Facebook Critic With a False Arrest
Perhaps the ignominious end to Brian Buglio's career will alert thin-skinned cops to the perils of trying to punish people for constitutionally protected speech.
Baton Rouge Cops Will Not Face Disciplinary Charges for Strip-Searching a Minor in Public
The announcement comes days after an exclusive report from Reason attracted national attention to the case.
10 Cops Got Qualified Immunity After Holding a Shackled Man Facedown Until He Died
The Supreme Court will soon announce if it'll consider an appeal.
The Fear That Abolishing Qualified Immunity Would Expose Cops to Ruinous Personal Liability Is a Big Fat Red Herring
A study of civil rights cases found that "police officers are virtually always indemnified" by their employers.
Phoenix Authorities Used 'ACAB' Slogan To Designate Protesters as a Gang
Umbrellas, black clothing, and chanting "all cops are bastards" signal criminal street gang membership, prosecutors said.
See the FBI Dig Through an Innocent Woman's Safe Deposit Box
In a lawsuit, attorneys for the box's owner allege that federal agents conducted an illegal search that may have resulted in the loss of some valuable gold coins.
Baton Rouge Cops Strip-Searched a Minor During a Traffic Stop and Entered a Family's Home Without a Warrant. The City Just Settled for $35,000.
The case is an indictment on just how hard it is to get accountability when the government violates your rights.
Texas Deputies Say They Were 'Molested and Traumatized' by Colleagues During Federally Funded Prostitution Stings
Plus: Georgia loses suit over anti-boycotting law, conservatives rally against Biden's IRS plan, and more...
Has Our Criminal Justice System Gotten Better Since George Floyd's Death?
Plus: critical race theory and ideal libertarian political appointees
Federal Cops Attacked a 70-Year-Old Vietnam Veteran and Then Avoided Accountability in Court
The Supreme Court declines to hear arguments in Oliva v. Nivar.
A City Got Protections From Qualified Immunity After a Cop Killed a Man. SCOTUS Won't Hear the Case.
The decision will make it even more difficult for victims to hold the government accountable when their rights are violated.
Rethinking the Power To Take a Life
America's approach to capital punishment changed in the 1970s. It's time for another look.
Louisiana Troopers Claimed Ronald Greene Died in a Car Crash. Body Cam Footage Shows a Deadly Beating.
The state has refused to release the video for the past two years, but the Associated Press got its own copy.
