The Night I Asked ChatGPT How To Build a Bomb
Yes, you can trick the bot into giving you information it's supposed to keep to itself. No, that isn't something to worry about.
Law & Government
Justice Thomas Raises Concerns About Increase in Expedited Appeals on "Shadow Docket"
Speaking at the Eleventh Circuit Judicial Conference, Justice Thomas echoes some of the concerns expressed by Justice Kavanaugh.
A SWAT Team Blew Up This Innocent Couple's Home and Left Them With the Bill. Was That Constitutional?
Mollie and Michael Slaybaugh are reportedly out over $70,000. The government says it is immune.
The Details of Stormy Daniels' Story About Sex With Trump Are Legally Irrelevant
Under the prosecution's theory, Trump would be guilty of falsifying business records even if Daniels made the whole thing up.
Tennessee Appeals Court Rules Against Wildlife Agents Who Planted Cameras on Private Land
The three-judge panel concluded unanimously that while the state law at issue is constitutional, the wildlife agents' application of it was not.
Justice Kavanaugh Tells Fifth Circuit that "Shadow Docket" Places Pressure on Supreme Court
Some interesting comments at the Fifth Circuit Judicial Conference
District Court Dismisses Genesis B. Kids Climate Suit Against the EPA
The district court recognizes that the plaintiffs lack standing, but grants them leave to amend.
Marco Rubio Used To Know How Tariffs Work. What Happened?
The economics of tariffs have not changed in the past eight years. Marco Rubio has.
The Untested Self-Pardon
Plus: Hunter's guns, AI replacing dating, East German cars, and more...
California's Leaders Still Ignoring State Pension Debt
California has just 72 percent of the assets needed to make payments to retired public workers, many of whom get to collect six-figure annual payments.
Is the Federal Property and Administrative Services Act Unconstitutional?
In an interesting dissent, Judge Allison Eid argues it violates existing nondelegation doctrine precedent.
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.
California Students Get $1 Million After They Were Expelled for Wearing Supposedly Racist Acne Masks
School officials falsely accused the boys of posing for a photo in blackface.
Labor Board Goes After Amazon CEO for Suggesting Workers Might Be 'Better Off' Without Unions
The First Amendment applies even to the CEOs of successful companies, but the NLRB seems to disagree.
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.
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.
Experts Wonder, Is America Truly in Decline?
The “cure” to national decline might be part of the disease.
Trump Promised To 'Drain the Swamp.' He Did the Opposite.
Total spending under Trump nearly doubled. New programs filled Washington with more bureaucrats.
This Student Was Allegedly Suspended for Saying 'Illegal Aliens.' Did That Violate the First Amendment?
Christian McGhee is suing, arguing a North Carolina assistant principal infringed on his free speech rights.
Judge Allows Suit Over Alabama Abortion Travel To Go Forward
Abortion rights groups have sued Alabama Attorney General Steve Marshall after he said he would prosecute anyone who facilitates legal out-of-state abortions.
Social Security and Medicare Are Going Insolvent. Neither Biden nor Trump Has a Plan for It.
Social Security is expected to hit insolvency in 2035, while the portion of Medicare that pays for hospital visits and other medical care will be insolvent by 2036.
Campus Anti-Israel Protests and the Ethics of Civil Disobedience
Civil disobedience is sometimes justified. But current law-breaking by anti-Israel protestors on college campuses doesn't come close to meeting the requisite moral standards.
Americans Care About Inflation, but Politicians Don't
Plus: A listener asks the editors about cancelling student loan debt.
El Salvador's New Congress Strengthens Bukele's Grip on Power
With 54 out of 60 seats in Congress, President Nayib Bukele’s party holds significant influence over legislative decisions.
Missouri Bill Would Ban Eminent Domain, but Only for Wind and Solar Projects
The Show Me State has plenty of room to rein in laws on taking private property, but instead, lawmakers are focusing only on one very narrow use case.
Wisconsin Court Upholds Ban on Adoption by Parent's Nonmarital Partner, Debates State Constitutional Interpretation
How should courts interpret state constitutional provisions that read, "All people are born equally free and independent, and have certain inherent rights: among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness; to secure these rights, governments are instituted, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed."
Don't Co-Parent With Congress
Instead of lobbying for age verification and youth social media bans, parents can simply restrict their kids' smartphone use.
Not Even Artificial Intelligence Can Make Central Planning Work
Revolutionary AI technologies can't solve the "wicked problems" facing policy makers.
AI Regulators Are More Likely To Run Amok Than Is AI
Proposed AI legislation would enshrine tech-killing precautionary principle into law.
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.
West Virginia Declares State of Emergency Over FAFSA Chaos
Due to persistent glitches in the financial aid form, Gov. Jim Justice issued an executive order lifting the FAFSA requirement for several state grants.
Are State Law Climate Change Tort Suits Preempted by Federal Law?
A recent panel discussion on whether state and local suits against fossil fuel producers are preempted by federal law (and my arguments for why the answer is "no, they are not").
Adler v. Chemerinsky on the U.S. Supreme Court
A civil discussion on the U.S. Supreme Court and its role in American life, past and present.
DeSantis Signs Bill Banning Lab-Grown Meat in Florida
While the governor framed the legislation as necessary to protect Floridians from "the global elite," he's the real authoritarian.
How California's Ban on Diesel Locomotives Could Have Major National Repercussions
No technology exists today to enable railroads to comply with the state's diktat, which villainizes a mode of transportation that is actually quite energy efficient.
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.
Ninth Circuit Puts An End to the Kids Climate Case
A unanimous panel orders dismissal of Juliana v. United States, bringing this zombie litigation to a close.
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.
No One Can Make Government Work
If businesses don't serve customers well, they go out of business. Government, on the other hand, is a monopoly.
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.
Ohio Pastor Criminally Charged for Letting People Sleep In Church. Again.
Plus: California's landmark law ending single-family-only zoning is struck down, Austin, Texas, moves forward with minimum lot size reform, and the pro-natalist case for pedestrian infrastructure.
FDA Once Again Stands Athwart Biomedical Innovation, Yelling 'Stop!'
New red tape will result in fewer safe and effective diagnostic tests.
