Neither tyrants nor apologists act with integrity. Developing our character by respecting the autonomy of others is a pathway to liberty.
Category: Civil Liberty
How America’s Growing Diversity Weakens the Case for Racial Preferences in Education
When a policy originally intended to compensate blacks for a long history of oppression has gradually morphed into efforts to cap the number of Asian students at selective universities, something has gone badly wrong.
The Supreme Court’s 150‐year Mistake
Though the Supreme Court has come a long way in protecting equality before the law, it still refuses to protect the right to earn a living
https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-courts-150-year-mistake#readmore
Joan Biskupic Breaks Some News About Pavan v. Smith and Masterpiece Cakeshop
Did Roberts and Kennedy swap votes to GVR Pavan and grant Masterpiece?
The Drug Exception to the Second Amendment
Conservatives have been slow to recognize the threat that drug prohibition poses to gun rights and other civil liberties.
What does that position say about the NRA’s understanding of the Second Amendment? If trivial offenses such as pot smoking are enough to strip someone of the constitutional right to armed self-defense, that right is subject to legislators’ whims, a proposition that the NRA passionately rejects in other contexts.
https://reason.com/2023/03/12/the-drug-exception-to-the-second-amendment/
Lawsuit: Prosecutors Filed Bogus Charges Against Detroit Man in Retaliation for Challenging Seizure of Car
The Institute for Justice says Robert Reeves’ First Amendment rights were violated when prosecutors filed and refiled baseless felony charges against him after he sued to get his car back.
“They’ve taken my car and tried to throw me in jail, but I’m still standing,” Reeves said in the Institute for Justice press release. “I’m not going to take the county’s threats sitting down. This isn’t about money or payback. This is about making sure the county can’t do this to anyone else.”
Massachusetts’ Tobacco Ban Went as Badly as You’d Expect
And now the state thinks it needs to crack down even more.
States that wish to avoid making the same mistake should view Massachusetts as a warning, not a role model.
https://reason.com/2023/03/09/massachusetts-tobacco-ban-went-as-badly-as-youd-expect/
On the Banana Republic Practice of Civil Asset Forfeiture
Civil asset forfeiture in the U.S. is now a form of government piracy flying under a false and flimsy flag of lawfulness.
The Supreme Court Should End Home Equity Theft
The county’s arguments would create a loophole allowing any state to take property without compensation, no matter how well‐defined the property interest, merely by changing the state’s definition of property.
https://www.cato.org/blog/supreme-court-should-end-home-equity-theft
Vigorous Property Rights in Vermont
This is more a matter of where two property owners’ rights begin and end than of the value of property rights versus their denial.
https://ij.org/cje-post/vigorous-property-rights-in-vermont/