statism

Lawsuit Accuses Fired Utah Trooper of Falsifying D.U.I. Arrests

"Corporal Steed was named trooper of the year by her superiors in 2007, her career seemingly heading toward the inevitable promotions. Ms. Steed made a career of pulling over drivers who she claimed were driving drunk or under the influence. There was only one problem. Some of the drivers Ms. Steed arrested had not been drinking, or at least not enough to be reasonably impaired, according to the lawsuit, brought by a group of Utah lawyers on behalf of two plaintiffs. In several cases, those who were arrested did not drink alcohol, said Robert Sykes, one of the lawyers who filed the complaint." Continue reading →

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Havana scraps exit visas, but most Cubans won’t be going abroad

"Exit visas are one of the first hurdles Cubans have had to face when it comes to travel. But a new law set to come into force today scraps the requirement for the costly 'white card,' allowing Cubans to travel freely with just a passport. They will be allowed to remain out of the country for as many as two years before they lose certain rights in Cuba, such as health care and their property. There are more obvious caveats in the wording of the law that say that those of value to the Revolution – professionals such as scientists and engineers – will have a much harder time obtaining the necessary permissions to leave." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingHavana scraps exit visas, but most Cubans won’t be going abroad

Camden, NJ Agrees to Pay $3.5M to Victims of Police Corruption

"The City of Camden has agreed to pay $3.5 million in damages to 88 people whose convictions were overturned because of widespread corruption in the Camden Police Department. The settlement stems from a series of lawsuits filed against Camden Police in federal district court and state superior court over the last two years, after five officers were charged with a number of federal civil rights violations from conduct involving evidence planting, fabrication of reports and evidence, and perjury." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingCamden, NJ Agrees to Pay $3.5M to Victims of Police Corruption

Uncle Sam’s Marijuana Patch

"Not many people are aware that the United States government has been dispensing cannabis to several patients across the country for over three decades. The hypocrisy of a government that seizes personal property, locks people in cages and ruins lives for doing exactly what the government has been doing for more than 30 years is simply astounding." Continue reading →

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The Death of Privacy

"If the War on Drugs was an erosion of the Fourth Amendment, the 'War on Terror' sounded its death knell. The NSA’s warrantless domestic spying program has turned America into the most surveilled society in history, eclipsing conditions of East Germans under the Stasi. The government is illegally monitoring (in real time) activities not tethered to any suspicious or illegal conduct—for example, phone calls, purchases, email, text messages, Internet searches, social media communications, health information, employment history, travel, and student records—and creating dossiers on everyone (even senators, congressmen, and decorated generals)." Continue reading →

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Plead Guilty or Go to Prison for Life

"The efficient transformation of defendants into prisoners cannot be the standard by which we assess our criminal justice system. If the possibility of sending someone like Chris Williams to prison for the rest of his life is so obviously unfair, why does the law allow it, let alone mandate it?" Continue reading →

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Food Shortages in Venezuela Bigger Worry Than Constitution

"At a bustling food market in downtown Caracas, armed officers belonging to President Hugo Chavez’s National Bolivarian Guard marched by boxes of lettuce and tomatoes, checking prices and storage rooms. The inspection is part of a nationwide campaign to crack down on over-pricing and hoarding the government blames for shortages of basic goods, from toilet paper to sugar. The government said today that consumer prices in December jumped the most in 2 1/2 years, highlighting the growing economic problems that are amassing as Chavez’s battle with cancer unleashes a power struggle." Continue reading →

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Activists and family blame suicide of Aaron Swartz on overzealous prosecution

"Two years before the MIT incident, the FBI launched an investigation after Swartz released a trove of US federal court documents online that are usually only accessible at a fee through the government’s Public Access to Court Electronic Records, or PACER. In 2008, that fee was eight cents per page. In less than three weeks, he managed to download more than 18 million pages with an estimated value of $1.5 million to his home in the Chicago suburb of Highland Park. Swartz had pleaded not guilty to charges of computer fraud, wire fraud and other crimes carrying a maximum sentence of 35 years in prison and a $1 million fine." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingActivists and family blame suicide of Aaron Swartz on overzealous prosecution

Americans Used to Tar-and-Feather Tax Collectors

"Last September, Deputy IRS Commissioner Steven Miller promised a Republican-controlled congressional subcommittee that the agency would not enforce the Obamacare mandate. He lied, of course. Despite the fact that the agency is not a legislative body, last December it created 159 pages of Obamacare-related regulations. Since the rules are invasive and deliberately confusing, it’s not surprising that many business owners are looking for ways to minimize their exposure to the IRS’s scrutiny. This has prompted the agency to warn that it will soon issue 'anti-abuse rules' intended to punish business owners who use existing regulatory loopholes found in the law." Continue reading →

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Gun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets

"From one country to the next, across barriers of language and culture, government officials in even the most benign, stable democracies that have attempted to disarm their subjects, or to limit the weapons available for legal ownership, or even to do no more than track gun owners and register guns, have run into overwhelming resistance. Mass defiance has crippled registration programs, hobbled confiscations schemes and made a mockery of licensing programs. Given a choice between complying with restrictions on firearms ownership and defying the law, a clear majority of people in most jurisdictions have chosen rebellion." Continue reading →

Continue ReadingGun Restrictions Have Always Bred Defiance, Black Markets