What's Really at Stake in the Kilmar Abrego Garcia Case?
From pretrial detention to the threat of foreign rendition, the Abrego Garcia case shows how political prosecutions and coercive plea deals have eroded the promise of a fair trial.
Law & Government
Amy Coney Barrett Is Right To Reject 'Common Good Constitutionalism'
Limits on government power are a venerable and beneficial feature of our system.
Rep. Chip Roy on Spending, Immigration, and the American Dream
"I think members of Congress believe that they get more popularity in votes by spending money. I actually disagree with that," the Texas Republican tells Reason.
Justice Kennedy on Originalism and Bush v. Gore
Interesting tidbits in an interview with Adam Liptak
States Are Banning Retail Sales of Dogs and Cats. It's Doing More Harm Than Good.
"By [activists'] own measurements, these bans aren't successful," says lobbyist Alyssa Miller-Hurley. "What they are successful at is fundraising."
Trump Calls for Arrest of Chicago Mayor and Illinois Gov. Pritzker
As Illinois resists the federal immigration blitz, the Trump administration ups the ante on authoritarian rhetoric.
The Economy Doesn't Need Federal Jobs Data To Function
There are plenty of private alternatives to the employment report put out by the Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Republican Socialism: The Trump Administration Buys a Stake in Yet Another Company
The federal government can't even pass a budget. What's it doing buying a mine?
Alligator Alcatraz Was Built on Secrecy, Expansive Emergency Powers, and an Unprecedented State Power Grab
Shadowy deals and unilateral powers created Florida's notorious immigration detention camp.
Licensing Boards Are Legalized Cartels
Industry insiders dominate the boards that control who can work, using government power to shut out competitors, protect profits, and block reform.
Civil Rights Group Sues ICE for Withholding Records of the Agency's Detention Expansion Plans in Virginia
Lawyers at America's largest civil liberties group say the agency’s lack of transparency violates federal disclosure requirements.
Warrantless Searches, Tariffs, and the Unitary Executive: 3 SCOTUS Cases To Watch This Fall
In a new Supreme Court term packed with big cases, these disputes stand out.
Why a Trump Appointee Ruled That His National Guard Deployment in Portland Was Illegal
U.S. District Judge Karin Immergut concluded that the president's description of "War ravaged Portland" was "simply untethered to the facts."
Justice Barrett Is "Not Afraid"
A revealing interview with the Supreme Court's "Steel Magnolia."
On Common Good Constitutionalism: Vermeule Response to Barrett
A reply to the Associate Justice's recent remarks.
Chief Justice Burger Set the Stage for the Originalist Revolution
While conservative criticisms of the Burger Court may be justified, those criticisms do not apply to the "The Chief." He had only one vote on the Court ... and, too often, too little support from his colleagues to reach originalist results.
Whoops—Ohio Accidentally Excludes Most Major Porn Platforms From Anti-Porn Law
Ohio lawmakers set out to block minors from viewing online porn. They messed up.
Tennessee Alcohol Wholesalers Are Grabbing Control of the State's Hemp Market
A new law hands hemp distribution to the same powerful middlemen who dominate liquor sales and block out-of-state suppliers.
Lawsuit Challenges Trump's $100,000 H-1B Visa Fee
The case was filed yesterday by a broad coalition of different groups, including a health care provider, education groups, religious organizations, and labor unions.
SCOTUS Will Consider a Challenge to Hawaii's Default Rule Against Guns on Private Property Open to the Public
The law is one of several attempts to override the right to bear arms by making it impractical to exercise.
Defending the Summary Execution of Suspected Drug Smugglers, Trump Declares an 'Armed Conflict'
The president thinks he can transform murder into self-defense by executive fiat.
Justice Barrett on Common Good Constitutionalism (Updated)
The Justice discusses originalism, common good constitutionalism, and King v. Burwell in a recent interview.
Trump's Planned Farm Bailout Should Require Congressional Approval
The Trump administration has already claimed the power to raise taxes without congressional approval. Now it is going to spend money that way too.
The Roberts Court at 20: Looking Back and Looking Forward
A recent panel discussion on the current Supreme Court.
Review: A Godzilla Movie About Bureaucracy
In Shin Godzilla, scientists must cut through red tape to save Tokyo.
Fifth Circuit Will Rehear Alien Enemies Act Case En Banc
It will review a panel decision holding that Trump could not invoke this sweeping wartime authority by claiming illegal migration and drug smuggling qualify as an "invasion."
Josh Hawley and Democrat Allies Target AI With New Legal and Regulatory Regime
Two bills recently introduced by Hawley would set American AI and the economy back.
Turning the Government Shutdown Into a Fight About the Filibuster Is a Terrible Idea
Democrats should use the shutdown to curb the Trump administration's worst authoritarian abuses, not to try to goad Republicans into eliminating an important check on executive excess.
The Justice Department's Targeting of George Soros Is a Serious Scandal
Just as it was a scandal when the IRS under Obama allegedly targeted Tea Party groups.
After 20 Years as Chief Justice, John Roberts Is Now Friend and Foe to Executive Power
Which version of the chief justice will emerge in the Supreme Court’s newest term?
The Government Shutdown Is a Distraction—From Our $37 Trillion Debt
This time, Democrats turned the most basic government housekeeping into hostage drama.
A Government Shutdown Isn't Really a Shutdown. Most Federal Employees Are Still Working and Will Get Paid.
The federal government continues paying its biggest bills during a shutdown, and hundreds of thousands of federal employees get a belatedly paid vacation.
Government Shutdowns Are an Example of Congress Doing Its Job
Refusing to fund the government is the primary way minority party lawmakers can check the excesses of the executive branch and the majority party.
Caleb Nelson's Originalist Critique of Unitary Executive Theory
The prominent originalist legal scholar argues the Constitution does not require that the president have the power to fire executive branch officials.
Democrats Shut Down the Government to Obscure Obamacare's Failures
The fight over whether to extend "temporary" health insurance subsidies is really a fight over how best to hide the costs created by the Affordable Care Act.
How Oregon's Drug Experiment Backfired
The lesson isn’t that decriminalization can’t work. It’s that Portland-style governance is broken.
ICE Arrested a U.S. Citizen—Twice—During Alabama Construction Site Raids. Now He's Suing.
“I got arrested twice for being a Latino working in construction,” says Leo Garcia Venegas, the lead plaintiff in a new lawsuit filed by the Institute for Justice challenging warrantless ICE raids on construction sites.
Shutdown Livestream: This Won't Fix Trillion-Dollar Deficits
Reason's Peter Suderman and Eric Boehm discuss the government shutdown live at 3 p.m. Eastern time today.
Deploying Federal Troops Is Not a Sustainable Solution to Crime in American Cities
Federal officers policing Washington, D.C., on Trump's orders appear to be driving crime down, but the plan is neither constitutionally sound nor viable in the long term.
Demanding Charges Against His Enemies, Trump Conflates Justice With Revenge
The legal rationales for prosecuting James Comey, Adam Schiff, and Letitia James suggest the president is determined to punish them one way or another.
The Government Shutdown Won't Stop Trump's Immigration Enforcement Campaign
The Department of Homeland Security will retain 95 percent of its employees if the government shuts down and remain funded in large part by the One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
Could This Be the Best Government Shutdown Ever?
Take your opportunities for smaller government where you find them.
5 Ways To Fix the NFL's Rules, Referees, Schedule, and More
How to change the league so that owners, players, and fans are happier
After Repeatedly Losing in Lower Court, Trump Asks SCOTUS To Review His Birthright Citizenship Order
Plus: Justice Anthony Kennedy wrote a book.
