Judge Rejects New York City's Ban on Cops Compressing Suspects' Diaphragms
Plus: Trans girl sports ban vetoed, Connecticut legalizes marijuana, and more...
Criminal Justice
Biden Administration Endorses Legislation to End Crack Cocaine Sentencing Disparity
The EQUAL Act would finally end one of the worst legacies of the 1980s drug war and clean up one of the biggest stains on Joe Biden's record.
NYC Mayoral Frontrunner Eric Adams Talks Conspiratorial Nonsense About 'Voter Suppression'
The ex-cop's closing pitch is filled with crazy accusations about "disenfranchis[ing] Black voters."
New York City's Mayoral Reality Check
Gotham voters are trending toward candidates who acknowledge that violent crime is up, and that school closures were terrible.
Gov. Greg Abbott Will Reportedly Separate Families and Throw Some Undocumented Migrants in Prison
In 2018, the Republican said family separations were "tragic and heart-rending."
Autopsy of a Crime Lab
The book argues that judges should take their responsibility as gatekeepers of scientific and technical evidence more seriously.
Cops Punched a Man Hanging From a Window and Tased Him After He Fell. They Got Qualified Immunity.
But the appeals court wasn't having it.
Connecticut Legislature Passes Bill To Legalize Recreational Marijuana
Pending the governor's expected signature, Connecticut will become the 19th state—and the fifth this year—to legalize recreational weed.
D.C. Council's Ban on Flavored Tobacco Products Is a License for More Over-Policing of Minorities
Legislators cannot have it both ways.
Don't Be Surprised When Stupid Laws Are Maintained With Force
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids railed against cops for enforcing the same kind of anti-vaping rule they help pass.
Biden Campaigned on Ending the Death Penalty. His Justice Department Wants To Execute the Boston Marathon Bomber Anyway.
A new brief asks the Supreme Court to reinstate Dzhokhar Tsarnaev’s death sentence.
Senate Bill Would Ban Judges from Using Acquitted Conduct at Sentencing
The little-known but outrageous practice allows federal judges enhance defendants' sentence based on conduct a jury acquitted them of.
Cops Now Need a Warrant for 23andMe and AncestryDNA Searches in Maryland and Montana
Two states have passed laws requiring court approval before the cops can use genetic genealogy services to track down a suspect.
Cops Tased and Beat Teens While Enforcing a Local Vaping Ban
Dumb laws lead to police brutality.
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.
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.
