The elected representatives of Chetek, WI would rather their constituents ask permission to speak openly to those they’ve elected: Mum is the word in a local community after the mayor removes people’s ability to come into city council meetings and openly speak their minds. If residents of Chetek have something to say at city council…
Law
Crime, Law, Liberty
Oregon Man Sentenced to 30 Days in Jail — for Collecting Rainwater on His Property
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is collecting rainwater that falls on your property a crime? It is in Oregon: A rural Oregon man was sentenced Wednesday to 30 days in jail and over $1,500 in fines because he had three reservoirs on his property to collect and use rainwater. Gary Harrington of Eagle Point, Ore., says he plans to appeal…
Law, Liberty
The Legal Implications of Writing Fan Fiction
by JOHN ADAMS •
CDA, City, Development, Green Energy Holdings, Law, Local Government
Questions for the CDA about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings
by JOHN ADAMS •
Yesterday, I posted a series of general questions about a proposed deal with Green Energy Holdings for a waste digester. See, Preliminary & General Questions about a Proposal with Green Energy Holdings. (For all posts about this deal, I’ve a designated category.) Today, here are questions specific to the Whitewater Community Development Authority’s role in…
City, Law, Open Government, Planning
The Long and Good Meeting
by JOHN ADAMS •
Last Monday, June 11th, Whitewater’s Common Council and Planning Commission met jointly, to receive a sixty-two-page .pdf presentation from Graef Consulting as part of a zoning rewrite project. The meeting lasted about three hours, during which members of Council and the Planning Commission heard residents’ views on the presentation. The easiest description would be to…
Law, Libertarians, Liberty
Justice Kennedy the….Libertarian
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Cato Institute’s David Boaz teases the venerable Time magazine about its cover story on Justice Anthony Kennedy’s supposedly inscrutable jurisprudence. (Time is a survivor – it’s really the only remaining newsmagazine of its kind; it’s fared far better than rival publications.) Massimo Calabresi and David Von Drehle write in that magazine that Efforts to…
Elections, Law, Wisconsin
Wisconsin General Recall Election Voting Rights
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, New Media
Should ‘likes’ on Facebook be protected?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Beautiful Whitewater, City, Elections, Law, Liberty
Beautiful Whitewater
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Wisconsin
The Place of Peace and Honesty
by JOHN ADAMS •
Is there a place where hundreds of thousands have protested, packed their Capitol building, nearly a million later signing election petitions, without violence, at limited public costs, and without fraud? What spot of peace and honesty, integrity and democracy, is like that? Could there even be such a place, in all the world? There is.…
Corruption Probe, Daily Adams, Gov. Walker, Law, Politics
Wisconsin’s Shoddy Partisan Analysis
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin has a fuller political calendar than most states: we’ve not merely the traditional state and federal races, but recall elections likely for May and June. A libertarian will look at these issues with sharp interest, but without a partisan attachment. Perhaps all those contests, sure to be fought tooth and nail, have made some…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty
Know Your Rights: Photographers | American Civil Liberties Union
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a link to photographer’s rights from the ACLU. These are the rights of citizens, rights (among so many others) that they have as citizens. The linked page includes information on (1) general rights, (2) what to do if one is stopped for taking lawful pictures, (3) special considerations for video recording, (4) taking photographs…
Cycling, Law
Some Inquiries, No Matter How Lavish, Come to Nothing
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Technology
The ACLU on SOPA/PIPA
by JOHN ADAMS •
The ACLU’s Rights Blog posted today on the controversy over the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), and the post mentions the ACLU’s constructive role in limiting this latest regulatory overreach. (See, Online Protest Over SOPA Helps » Blog of Rights: Official Blog of the American Civil Liberties Union.) I have reproduced parts of their post…