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.
Civil Rights
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.
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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?
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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.
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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.
University of Kentucky Takes Student Paper to Court Over Reporting on Sexual-Assault Complaints Against Professor
When does institutional protection of student-victim privacy cross the line into censorship?
U.S. Commission on Civil Rights Wants to Subjugate the First Amendment
Free exercise rights exist "only to the extent that they do not unduly burden" bans on discrimination, the report says.
Religious Freedom Invoked (Successfully) in Federal Transgender Discrimination Case
Judge smacks down EEOC attempt to apply federal civil rights law against funeral home.
Ex Top Cop: We Need a New Model of Policing
L.E.A.P.'s Neill Franklin reacts to Philando Castillo and Anton Sterling shootings, the deaths of Dallas police officers, and #BlackLivesMatter.
New Frontiers in Gendered-Bathroom Battles
Regulations target transgender access to restrooms in federal buildings and beds in homeless shelters.
Body-Worn Cameras: Most Major Police Departments Fail at Accountability and Transparency
New scorecard evaluates civil liberties safeguards for body camera programs in 50 cities.
Virginia's Governor Makes a Mess Out of Restoring Felons' Voting Rights
What's supposed to have been a civil rights matter ends up as a case of executive overreach.
Welcoming Our New Algorithmic Overlords?
Algocracy and the moral and political legitimacy of government decision-making
Is the ACLU's Lawsuit Against Bad Anti-Hacking Law Ingenious or Terrifying?
Ending federal prosecution over violations of vague 'terms of service' rules may come at a cost.
Confessions of an Ex-Prosecutor
Culture and law conspire to make prosecutors hostile to constitutional rights.
Reminder: Guns Helped Secure the Freedom and Civil Rights of Black Americans
The Second Amendment's role in the Civil Rights Movement.
Let's Not Treat Transgender People Like a Joke
Gender is not as straightforward as some would like to depict.
Capitalism, Not Socialism, Led to Gay Rights
What system better allows people the freedom to live how they choose?