Why Violent Protests Backfire
Martin Luther King explained why they are "socially destructive and self-defeating."
Civil Rights
Is the Senate Filibuster a 'Jim Crow Relic' That Should Be Abolished in the Name of Democracy?
Politicians' opinions about the maneuver depend on which party is in power.
We Should Name Military Bases After Lynched Black Veterans Who Fought for Freedoms They Were Denied
Let's replace the names of Confederate figures with those of patriots who upheld America's ideals.
John Lewis Was an American Hero Who Battled State Racism
John Lewis' life was a testament to the power of free speech and peaceful agitation.
American Airlines Reportedly Accused a Black Social Worker of Kidnapping the White Child In Her Care. Now She's Suing.
Never mind the court order showing the child as a dependent in her care.
Supreme Court Rules, 6–3, That LGBT Workplace Discrimination Violates Civil Rights Act
Justice Neil Gorsuch's majority decision offers a textualist argument for the ruling.
Both Left and Right Should Stop Blithely Wishing for a New Civil War
All that accomplishes is encouraging us to view our fellow Americans as enemies, to see ourselves as members of warring tribes rather than citizens of a nation.
Justice Department Warns California Not To Leave Churches Behind in Its Reopening Plans
Allowing schools and malls to reopen, but not places of worship, would raise civil rights issues
Psychiatric Hospitals Can Still Force Patients to Accept Shock Treatment. One Connecticut Patient Has Been Shocked 500 Times in Five Years.
Despite concerns about efficacy and side effects, courts are slow to act on behalf of patients who don’t want the treatment.
Gorsuch May Be Swing Vote in Decision Whether Civil Rights Act Protects LGBT Workers From Discrimination
Justices weigh textual conflict over what counts as “sex discrimination” versus what Congress originally intended.
Supreme Court Will Finally Hear Arguments Over Federal LGBT Discrimination Protections
Does the Civil Rights Act of 1964 cover sexual orientation and gender identity?
Everybody Suddenly Realizes the Supreme Court Is About To Hear an Important LGBT Issue
It’s the Trump administration vs. civil rights groups on federal protections from workplace discrimination.
Welcome to the Busing Election!
What the backward-looking Democratic debate tells us about contemporary education policy and woke politics
With the Equality Act, Congressional Democrats Want To Redefine 'Sex' To Include Gender Identity and Sexual Orientation
Here's why that's a bad idea—and it has nothing to do with God's wrath, women's rights rollbacks, or locker-room predators.
Supreme Court To Consider Whether Civil Rights Act Protects Gay and Transgender Workers
Does current precedent forbidding discrimination on the basis of sex-based stereotypes apply here?
Preet Bharara's Boy Scout Manual of 'Doing Justice'
The former U.S. attorney for the Southern District of New York unconvincingly channels Atticus Finch in his legal memoir.
A Tattooed Libertarian on the Arizona Supreme Court: Clint Bolick's Long Fight for Freedom
Q&A with the co-founder of Institute for Justice about immigration, his legal philosophy, his battles with Sheriff Joe Arpaio, and that tattoo.
23-Year-Old Coleman Hughes Is Reframing the Discussion on Race: Podcast
Meet the undergrad who is recovering the legacy of gay, socialist civil-rights activist Bayard Rustin while explicating Kanye West's conservatism.
Thomas Sowell Returns
One of America's top social scientists on what has changed since he sat down with Reason 38 years ago.
As His Final Move in Office, Jeff Sessions Limits Use of Court Settlements to Reform Rotten Police Departments
Sessions was a staunch critic of consent decrees that forced police departments to reform unconstitutional practices.
Will Supreme Court Tackle More LGBT Cases Next Term?
Justices are being asked yet again to argue about wedding cakes and whether the Civil Rights Act covers discrimination against gay and transgender people.
Cops Have No Idea If Hate Crime Laws Stop Hate Crimes
..and other things I learned when I spoke at a U.S. Commission on Civil Rights briefing.
'Black People Don't Have To Be Democrats'
Chance The Rapper says the unthinkable and takes it back. But he's right, and not just about African Americans.
The Cato Institute's New Civil Rights/Police Accountability Initiative
Canvassing the legal problems and practical effects of qualified immunity from constitutional lawsuits
Philip Payton Jr.: The Crusading Capitalist Who Outwitted New York's Racist Landlords
Best known as the "father of Harlem," he was guided by the theory that free markets penalize bigotry.
Workplace Discrimination Against Gays Is Covered Under the Civil Rights Act, Says a Second Federal Court
A third court disagrees. The Supreme Court had the chance to take on the case to resolve the conflict, but it declined.
NYC Police Union Argues Releasing Body Cam Footage Violates Cops' Civil Rights
Suing to prevent such releases.
Stop Expecting the Justice Department to Fix Your City's Abusive Fining and Policing Practices
Accountability starts at home.
Supreme Court Won't Decide Whether Civil Rights Act Bans Anti-LGBT Discrimination
Lower courts are split on whether sex-based protections cover orientation.
These Three Cases Define This Month at the Supreme Court Term: Podcast
How to think about gay wedding cakes, Fourth Amendment rights, and whether the federal government can ban sports betting. Plus: How will Neil Gorsuch vote?
Ed Gillespie's Scaremongering On Felon Voting Rights Is a Sloppy Return to Crime Hysteria
In the final days of the Virginia governor's race, the Republican campaign lashes out with Trumpian crime rhetoric.
Feminist Group Loses Fight to Declare Yik Yak App a Civil-Rights Violation
Court rejects Title IX complaint against University of Mary Washington over failure to ban the social-media platform from its campus
The Juggalos Are the Forgotten Men and Women of America: Podcast
They "have their own language, leaders, and ways of talking to each other," says Reason's Paul Detrick.
Insane Clown Posse: 'We're First Amendment Warriors' for Juggalo Nation
"Juggalos are being fucked with, so we have to do something about it."
Dick Gregory Took Us All on a Strange and Powerful Trip
Comedian, civil-rights activist, food guru, and conspiracy theorist made America a better, more thoughtful place.
Federal Agencies Split on Whether Civil Rights Act Protects Against Anti-Gay Discrimination
The Department of Justice argues that sexual orientation isn't covered unless Congress adds it.
Trump Officials Promise Changes to College Sex- and Speech-Policing Agency
Citing a backlog of complaints, the Title IX enforcement office pledges to prioritize case resolution over fishing expeditions.
Federal Court Ruling Forbidding Antigay Job Discrimination Potentially a Very Big Deal
If the decision holds, it would essentially add LGBT protections to existing laws.
No, LGBT Rights Are Not and Should Not Be Dependent on Census Questions
This week's fake outrage confuses welfare spending with equal government protection and blames Trump.
How Title IX Sexual Assault Injustice Operates
Calculating how preponderance of the evidence falsely 'convicts' the innocent on campus.
Calculating the Risk of a False Title IX Sexual Assault Conviction: New at Reason
An innocent person faces a 20 percent probability of being found guilty under a preponderance of the evidence standard.
More Evidence That What Counts as 'Religious Freedom' Is Always In Dispute
SCOTUS unanimously upheld the ministerial exception five years ago. It's already being challenged again.
Cell Blocks Aren't Psych Wards
Even with the best of intentions, using jails to house the mentally ill is a bad policy.
Senate Rules Like the One Used to Silence Elizabeth Warren's Criticism of Jeff Sessions are Dumb, Arcane, and Self-Aggrandizing
Senators should not be afforded special privileges shielding them from vigorous criticism.
Don't Like Militarized Police and Mass Incarceration? Blame Progressivism.
Talking about racism won't end these problems
The Justice Dept.'s Costly Reform Agreement with Baltimore Police Explains Basic Appropriate Behavior
Are they 'fixing' the department or just rebuilding it from scratch?
Worst Bathroom Bill Ever: Alabama Law Would Mandate Attendants in Public Restrooms
Because limited government means having someone around when you're using the toilet.