Local Government
A Decade After Bankruptcy, Is Detroit Better?
The 2013 bankruptcy filing didn't make the city more prosperous, more functional, or less corrupt.
Who Is Protected As a Journalist? Everybody, Suggests Court Ruling.
Journalism is an activity shielded by the First Amendment, not a special class or profession.
Get Your Politics Out of My Pickleball
Fault lines emerge as government gets involved in America's weirdest, fastest-growing sport.
Yes, the Government Is Coming for Your Gas Stove
State and local governments are moving forward with bans on gas stoves in new residences.
Rent Control 2.0 Looks a Lot Like Rent Control 1.0
Rent control is getting a rhetorical makeover from progressive policy makers.
Atlanta Plans To Blow $230 Million on 2-Mile Extension of Useless Streetcar
That's more than $21,000 per foot. And the tab doesn't include operating costs, which taxpayers will also heavily subsidize.
Massachusetts District Attorney Sued for Refusing To Release Names of Problem Cops
Massachusetts reformed its notoriously bad public records laws in 2020, but reporters are still fighting to get the police misconduct files they're legally entitled to.
Can a Florida School District Ban a Children's Book About Gay Penguins?
The answer's more complicated than you might think.
This Pink Door Wasn't Historical Enough for Edinburgh
The City of Edinburgh Council ordered a woman to repaint her door or face fines up to 20,000 pounds.
Don't Confuse 'Local Control' With Small Government
Often, it can be exactly the opposite.
The New York Times Thinks Preempting Local Control Is Bad—When Republicans Do It
The paper's editorial board is happy to endorse the centralization of decision making when it supports their liberal policy preferences.
NIMBY Cities Are Using Your Tax Dollars To Lobby Against New Housing
Publicly funded leagues of cities are fighting zoning reforms in state capitals across the country.
L.A. Spent $7,500 on a Prototype Bus Shade That Doesn't Shade Anything
When the state won't shade you, buy a hat.
Voters Put Arizona Coyotes' Arena Project on Ice
A good example of why so few stadium deals end up on the ballot.
NYC May Force Rich People To Pay Higher Parking Fines Than the Poor
A pilot proposal to levy civil fines based on income is being considered by the City Council.
Jordan Neely Wasn't Killed by the System
Opposing sides of the debate around a New York City subway homicide have found unlikely common ground.
Review: Bragg Brothers' Pinball Depicts Repeal of the Game's Ban in New York City
Politicians in the last century accused pinball of being mob activity.
Government Waste Monopoly Pits Private Dumpster Business Against Garbage Bureaucrats
Steven Hedrick rents out roll-off dumpsters to people and hauls them away after. A new city ordinance is mandating that people use county services instead.
'Cop City' Protesters Arrested For Distributing Flyers
Just days after the release of an autopsy showing an activist may not have fired on officers before being shot to death, police arrested activists for putting flyers on mailboxes.
The Government Stole Her Home Equity Over an Unpaid Tax Bill. Will the Supreme Court Vindicate Her?
A win for Geraldine Tyler, who is now 94 years old, would be a win for property rights.
Advocates Pressured an Ohio Town To Reverse Ban on 'Aiding and Abetting' Abortions
It's one small victory for free speech and due process, but similar battles continue to play out elsewhere.
She Had $2,300 in Unpaid Taxes. The County Bilked Her for $25,000.
Geraldine Tyler's case is not unique; home equity theft is legal in Minnesota and 11 other states.
Why Do Public Schools Suck and What Should We Do About Them? Live With Corey DeAngelis and Connor Boyack
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook on Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern for a live discussion with the authors of Mediocrity: 40 Ways Government Schools Are Failing Today's Students
Is Clarence Thomas Ethically Challenged?
Plus: What the editors hate most about the IRS and tax day
Debate: It's Time for a National Divorce
Are political breakups really as American as apple pie?
Texas Considers Bill To Privatize the Business of Issuing Building Permits
If a municipality fails to approve or deny a permit by state-set deadlines, developers could hire private third parties to get the job done.
The First 'Missing Middle' Reform of the Year Has Passed. Will It Get Housing Built?
Arlington's successful passage of a modest missing middle housing reform bill after an intense debate raises the question of whether YIMBY politics can practically fix the problems it sets out to address.
With the Trump Arraignment, Americans Are Seeing the Power of the Local Prosecutor
Alvin Bragg's case against Donald Trump has put the once-obscure position of district attorney into the national spotlight.
Police Traveled 500 Miles To Seize Girl's Pet Goat for Slaughter
A 9-year-old backed out of a deal to sell her pet goat for slaughter. Local officials and sheriff's deputies used the power of the state to force her to go through with it.
Ridiculous Spending on Museums May Be Here To Stay
Handouts for tourist-trap museums will be part of the federal funding battleground in the next two years.
Cops Harass Parents Who Let 6-Year-Old Daughter Take a Walk Outside, Arrest Dad
He did "what any dad would—he went to hug his crying kid," says former town councilman Keith Kaplan.
A White Employee Is Suing the City of Seattle for Alleged Racial Discrimination
"If I disagreed or offered another opinion, I was told I had cognitive dissonance," Josh Diemert says.
Zoning Crackdown Puts Animal Rescue Operation at Risk of Closing
Fairytale Farm Animal Sanctuary's work caring for abandoned and disabled animals is imperiled by a demand from the Winston-Salem city government that the nonprofit stop hosting on-site fundraisers and volunteer events.
The Fight Over the Debt Ceiling Is Just Beginning
Legislators will increasingly argue over how to spend a diminishing discretionary budget while overall spending simultaneously explodes.
An Iowa Town Charged a Man With Disorderly Conduct Because He Called a Cop a 'Domestic Abuser'
Now a judge has cleared him of wrongdoing and struck down the rule used to justify the arrest.
Police Harassed a Man Holding a 'God Bless the Homeless Vets' Sign. He's Suing.
"My intention is to ensure that all Americans from the wealthiest millionaire to the poorest homeless person can exercise these rights without fear of consequence from our government," said Jeff Gray.
