Government abuse
Held Hostage Overseas? The IRS Wants Your Back Taxes.
The IRS fines hostages for taxes they couldn't pay while they were detained. A bill in Congress is trying to fix this.
The Government Is Taking Babies Away Because Their Moms Ate Poppy Seeds
Unreliable drug tests are sparking unnecessary child welfare investigations.
An Arizona Mom Was Arrested for Criticizing Public Officials at a City Council Meeting. Now She's Suing.
Rebekah Massie criticized a proposed pay raise for a city attorney. When she refused to stop, citing her First Amendment rights, the mayor had her arrested.
Michigan Judge Handcuffed and Jailed a Teen for Falling Asleep During a Field Trip
Judge Kenneth King is facing a lawsuit for punishing a 15-year-old who visited his courtroom with his "own version of Scared Straight.''
The Feds Are Skirting the Fourth Amendment by Buying Data
The government needs a warrant to spy on you. So agencies are paying tech companies to do it instead.
Prosecutor of Anti-Trump Protesters Allegedly Withheld Exculpatory Evidence and Lied About It
According to disciplinary charges against Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens, she suppressed video evidence that would have helped DisruptJ20 defendants.
New Bill Would Revive the Right To Sue Federal Cops for Constitutional Violations
The Supreme Court created, then gutted, a right to sue federal agents for civil rights violations.
She Underpaid a Property Tax Bill. So the Government Seized Her Home, Sold It—and Kept the $102,636 Profit.
Chelsea Koetter is asking the Michigan Supreme Court to render the state's debt collection scheme unconstitutional.
The DEA Claims To Be Able To Search Your Bag Without Your Consent. But Can They?
Recent footage shows a federal agent attempting to search a citizen’s bag without their consent, despite precedent saying that’s illegal.
Determined To Avoid Presidential Paralysis, SCOTUS Endorses Presidential Impunity
We need not conjure "extreme hypotheticals" to understand the danger posed by an "energetic executive" who feels free to flout the law.
The Best of Reason: Child Welfare Systems Are Trapping Innocent Families
Georgia parents were accused of child abuse after they took their daughter to the doctor. Does the state's story add up?
Child Welfare Systems Are Trapping Innocent Families
Georgia parents were accused of child abuse after they took their daughter to the doctor. Does the state's story add up?
Advocates Say the Justice Department Is Failing To Provide Relief to Women Who Were Abused in Prison
The Justice Department announced last year that it would expand a program to grant compassionate relief to federal inmates who've been sexually assaulted by staff.
A Cop's Corruption Allegedly Cost an Innocent Man 2 Years of His Life. Should She Get Qualified Immunity?
Judge Carlton Reeves ripped apart the legal doctrine in his latest decision on the matter.
House Passes a Bill To Create Independent Oversight of the Troubled Federal Prison System
Staff shortages and chronic corruption have plagued the Bureau of Prisons for years, exposing inmates to abuse and whistleblowers to retaliation.
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.
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.
An American Gangster at 100: J. Edgar Hoover's Authoritarian Legacy
Hoover’s reign at the FBI compromised American civil liberties and turned the FBI into America's secret police.
Florida Man's Tall Grass Saga Comes to an End
One man’s overgrown yard became a six-year struggle against overzealous code enforcement.
Revised Section 702 Surveillance Authority Poses More Danger Than Ever
New language could make almost anybody with access to a WiFi router help the government snoop.
Arizona's Battle Against School Choice for Special Needs
State government officials deploy scare tactics against families of special needs students seeking alternatives.
A Cop Shot Her 11-Year-Old Son. Now She Might Lose Custody of Her Kids.
The local prosecuting attorney in Sunflower, Mississippi, is seeking to take away Nakala Murry's three children.
FBI Agent Says He Hassles People 'Every Day, All Day Long' Over Facebook Posts
"It's just an effort to keep everybody safe and make sure nobody has any ill will," he claimed.
New York Regulators Shut Down a Marijuana Processor After She Criticized the State's Lax Enforcement
New York's botched recreational marijuana rollout just keeps looking worse.
The Lesson of COVID-19: Don't Give Government More Power
The pandemic showed that America's founders were right to create a system of checks and balances that made it hard for leaders to easily have their way.
Justice Department Finds Unconstitutional Conditions in 3 More Mississippi Prisons
Mississippi's prisons are falling apart, run by gangs, and riddled with sexual assaults, a Justice Department report says.
Feds Target Journalist Tim Burke With Law Intended for Hackers
An escalation in the war between people who publish secrets and those who seek to keep them.
Liquor Regulators Are Seeking Revenge on Bars That Broke Pandemic Rules
"The people who violated the governor's mandates and orders should face some consequences," a Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board member said in 2022.
NYC Child Protection Agency Uses 'Coercive Tactics' To Bully Parents Into Allowing Warrantless Searches
According to a new lawsuit, NYC's child protection agency almost never obtained warrants when it searched over 50,000 family homes during abuse and neglect investigations.
They Had Their Baby At Home. 2 Years Later, They Still Can't Get a Birth Certificate.
Teresa and Jeff Williams had their son, JJ, at home without medical help. They didn't know it would be nearly impossible to get legal documents for him.
Qualified Immunity Is Not Limited to Police Brutality. It Protects a Wide Variety of Abusive Officials.
An analysis of appeals involving the doctrine finds that less than a quarter "fit the popular conception of police accused of excessive force."
Writer's Suspended Death Sentence Is a Reminder of China's Awful Record on Human Rights
Yang Hengjun's punishment will be commuted to life in prison if he passes a probationary period. But the espionage accusations against him are highly spurious.
Long Beach, California, Police 'Brutally' Arrested a Cancer Patient. Now, the City Is Paying $300,000.
Johnny Jackson had just had surgery for his prostate cancer when three officers arrested him with "brutal force" over his expired vehicle registration.
Review: A Teen Dramedy on a Native American Reservation
The government abuse that precipitated Native American social woes is not directly discussed in Reservation Dogs.
Supreme Court Will Hear This Texas Woman's Challenge to a Politically Motivated Arrest
Sylvia Gonzalez, an anti-establishment politician, spent a day in jail for allegedly concealing a petition that she organized.
A Cop Jailed Her for 2 Years on Fake Charges. Will She Ever Get Justice?
St. Paul police officer Heather Weyker has thus far managed to get immunity for upending Hamdi Mohamud's life.
Federal Prison Guards Confessed to Rape and Got Away With It
"I knew they were scumbags," a former Bureau of Prisons officer tells Reason.
Texas School District Threatens to Seize 79-Year-Old Man's Home for Stadium Parking Lot
The Houston-area Aldine Independent School District is considering the use of eminent domain to seize a one-acre property owned and occupied by Travis Upchurch.
The IRS Misplaced Millions of Taxpayer Records. Again.
The only effective means of keeping tax collectors from misusing data is keeping it from them.
Qualified Immunity May Shield FBI Agents Who Abused the No-Fly List
The feds routinely abuse people’s rights and claim they shouldn’t be held accountable.
