Local law enforcement agencies around the country are acquiring drones at a dizzying pace, often with financing from the federal government, asset forfeiture, and in some cases, private grants. According to a report released last spring by the Center for the Study of the Drone at Bard College, 347 local agencies in 43 states acquired…
MADISON, Wisc. (Dec. 27, 2017) – A bill filed in the Madison Senate would help facilitate healthcare freedom outside of government insurance regulatory schemes. A bipartisan coalition of 32 senators and representatives introduced Senate Bill 670 (SB670) on Dec. 21. The legislation specifies that direct primary care agreements (sometimes called medical retainer agreements) do not constitute insurance, thereby…
JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. (Dec. 26, 2017) – A bill pre-filed in the Missouri House would legalize medical marijuana for qualifying patients in the state, setting the foundation to nullify unconstitutional federal cannabis prohibition in practice. Pre-filed for introduction by Rep. James Neely (R-Cameron) for the 2018 session of the Missouri legislature, House Bill 1554 (HB1554)…
ANNAPOLIS, Md. (Dec. 26, 2017) – A bill prefiled in the Maryland House would require police to get a warrant before obtaining any information collected by “smart meter” technology. Passage of the bill would help protect privacy and ensure personal information doesn’t end up stored in federal databases. Del. Alfred Carr (D-18) prefiled House Bill…
“Smartphones and other personal electronics contain vastly more private information than suitcases. The American Civil Liberties Union and the Electronic Frontier Foundation have filed a lawsuit in Boston arguing that a warrant should be required to search such devices at the border. Last week, the Trump administration asked a judge to dismiss the case. The lawsuit comes amid a surge in agents looking through — and sometimes copying data from — cellphones and laptops. Midway through fiscal year 2017, Customs and Border Protection was on pace to search 30,000 travelers’ electronics — more than tripling the annual number by that agency since 2015.”
COLUMBIA, S.C. (Dec. 21, 2017) – A bill prefiled in the South Carolina House would reform the state’s asset forfeiture laws to minimize the policing for profit motive and would partially close a loophole that allows state and local police to circumvent more strict state forfeiture laws by passing cases off to the feds. Rep.…
Until at least the 1960s or so, the “progressive school” of history suggested that we totally ignore the views and works of old revolutionaries like Samuel Adams and James Otis.
Testimony offered before the N.C. Commission of Inquiry on Torture (NCCIT) earlier this month revealed the culpability of state and local officials in a program of extraordinary rendition and torture. Knowing how states helped facilitate torture opens the door to take steps to keep it from happening again. On Nov. 30 and Dec. 1, the 11-member panel…