From the IJ, highlights of ongoing work: Litigating for Liberty. The Wall Street Journal featured IJ’s founder and president, Chip Mellor, this past Sunday. Read the in-depth interview here. Georgia property owners are fed up with forfeiture. The state’s forfeiture law allows law enforcement to seize the property of innocent owners without convicting or even…
Law
Law, Liberty
Pres. Obama Signs Indefinite Detention Bill Into Law
by JOHN ADAMS •
The indefinite detention bill passed the Congress with support from both parties, but that only means it was a bad idea with bipartisan backing: President Obama’s action today is a blight on his legacy because he will forever be known as the president who signed indefinite detention without charge or trial into law,” said Anthony…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Wisconsin
The Journal Sentinel on Justice Gableman’s Receipt of Free Legal Services (and a bit about the story, itself)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over the the Journal Sentinel, there’s a story about Justice Gableman’s deciding votes on cases in which the Michael Best & Friedrich firm represented the victorious party, despite his receipt of free legal services from that firm: State Supreme Court Justice Michael Gableman in two cases cast the deciding vote in favor of parties represented…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty, Politics
Teenage mayoral candidate to ignore cease and desist demand from Sheboygan’s Mayor Ryan
by JOHN ADAMS •
Good for him: Sheboygan teenager and potential recall mayoral candidate Asher Heimermann said he intends to ignore a cease and desist letter from Sheboygan Mayor Bob Ryan to take down a fake Twitter account claiming to be Ryan, saying the account complies with the social media websites rules for parody and does not rise to…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Out in the Cold at Age 84: Wisconsin’s Ruthelle Frank Fights for Her Right to Vote
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ruthelle Frank is no less a citizen than anyone else in Wisconsin. I’ve posted before about Ruthelle Frank’s disenfranchisement under Wisconsin’s new voted ID law. She’s a citizen, lifetime resident of Wisconsin, and officeholder, but after eighty-four years, she now faces hundreds of dollars in fees to do what she has a right to do…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Wisconsin
The Disgrace of Wisconsin’s Photo ID Law: Rules leave village leader without right to vote
by JOHN ADAMS •
Although obviously a citizen by birth, and although she’s served on the Brokaw Village Board since 1996, Ruthelle Frank is now disenfranchised: Ruthelle Frank was born Aug. 21, 1927, in her home in Brokaw. It was a hard birth; there were complications. A doctor had to come up from Wausau to see that she and her…
Crime, Law
Bad News for Drug Warriors
by JOHN ADAMS •
Turns out Newt Gingrich, the man of a thousand shifting, contradictory, and I’ll-considered opinions, wants to escalate the Drug War. If there’s worse news for drug warriors than this, short of an endorsement from Syria’s Assad, I can’t imagine what that worse news might be. In an interview with Yahoo!, Gingrich finds his model for…
Law, Libertarians
Thanksgiving News Update from the Institute for Justice
by JOHN ADAMS •
Here’s a holiday recap of projects ongoing at the Institute for Justice: Happy Thanksgiving! We wanted to send you a quick update on what the Institute for Justice has been up to over the past month. Live in Connecticut? Want brighter teeth? It’s a felony for anyone but a licensed dentist to offer teeth-whitening services.…
Law, Recall
Fallone on the “Original Intent of the Recall Power.”
by JOHN ADAMS •
The governor, lt. governor, and as many as four state senators face recall elections next year. So is use of the recall power against these incumbents consistent with Wisconsin law? There’s an answer in a solid post at the Marquette Law Faculty blog from Edward Fallone entitled, The Original Intent of the Recall Power. (Fallone,…
City, Economy, Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty, Wisconsin
The War on Immigrants
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Reason’s blog, libertarian Shikha Dalmia writes on Alabama’s War on Immigrants. The essay is solid from beginning to end. I’d recommend readers to consider her full essay, but I’ll quote now from a few key passages. Overview: Conservatives are resorting to ever more draconian measures to take back the country from “illegal immigrants.”…
Law
U.S. Supreme Court’s Consideration of Challenge to ObamaCare
by JOHN ADAMS •
Ilya Shapiro of Cato comments on the Supreme Court’s consideration (this term, March oral argument) of challenges to ObamaCare (considering particularly the individual mandate provision of that law). There will be no more significant case before that court in this term, or any recent term. See, SCOTUS Will Hear ObamaCare Challenges | Ilya Shapiro |…
Free Markets, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Good Riddance, Arizona Sen. Russell Pearce
by JOHN ADAMS •
I see that Russell Pearce, the Arizona Senate president who authored that state’s harsh immigration law, met defeat in Tuesday’s recall from another Republican. Although the other candidate, school-executive Jerry Lewis, shares some of the same views, Pearce’s defeat is still a good day for Arizona and America. See, Arizona recall: Why Russell Pearce lost.…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Winona, MN faces lawsuit over ban on renting one’s own home
by JOHN ADAMS •
The Institute of Justice, a civil rights public-interest law firm, is challenging municipal regulations that prevent people from renting out their own homes: “The rule is a rental ban on renting out your home,” said Anthony Sanders, an attorney with the Minnesota Chapter of the Institute of Justice, a libertarian non-profit based in Virginia. Sanders…
Crime, Law, Liberty
Gallup Reports Record Number in Favor of Legalizing Marijuana Use
by JOHN ADAMS •
Respected polling-firm Gallup reports that for the first time, half of all Americans support legalizing marijuana use. Fifty-percent of all Americans favor legalization; that’s a huge jump from forty years ago. The ongoing trend is also clear: younger Americans are more likely to support, and senior citizens more likely to oppose, legalization. In another twenty…