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,…
Law
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…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Legislator responsible for Transportation Security Administration says dismantle, privatize the agency
by JOHN ADAMS •
Indeed. Long, long overdue. The agency is one of America’s greatest contemporary mistakes. They’ve been accused of rampant thievery, spending billions of dollars like drunken sailors, groping children and little old ladies, and making everyone take off their shoes. But the real job of the tens of thousands of screeners at the Transportation Security Administration…
Holiday, Law, Liberty
Constitution Day
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Matt Welch Debates Ann Coulter on the Iraq War, TSA, and Using Torture
by JOHN ADAMS •
Reason editor-in-chief Matt Welch debated Ann Coulter on a special Stossel episode dedicated to how the government has responded to 9/11. Welch debated Coulter on how secure America is after invading Iraq, creating the TSA, and implementing torture for information gathering. Air Date: September 8, 2011. I’m with Welch on all three, believing particularly that…
Law, Press
Justice Gableman’s Dodgy Recollection (Updated)
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Recall Signs on Lawns as Protected Political Speech
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a lingering – but easy to answer – question about whether it’s legal to put a conventional, ordinary-sized ‘Recall Walker’ sign on your private lawn. Yes, it is. It’s a free speech right that cannot be abridged by state or local election ordinances limiting the mere display on private property of conventional political signs.…
Law, Libertarians, Liberty
Mark Grannis on Rights
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law, Liberty, Official Misconduct, Police
Six Years in Prison for Legally Recording a Police Officer?
by JOHN ADAMS •
Photography and video recordings both protect honest police departments against false accusations and assure communities receive information about instances of official misconduct. When citizens exercise their rights to photography and video recording, they are also bolstering the work of good officers by helping identify a few corrupt ones. Yet not everyone sees it this way,…
Crime, Government Spending, Law, Liberty
On 40th Anniversary Of War On Drugs, Cops Decry Obama’s Drug Policy
by JOHN ADAMS •
The least one can say is that these last decades have failed to assure Americans’ health or safety. There’s irony, too, as even the regulation-favoring Richard Nixon would not have imagined nor supported the course the war on drugs has taken. We’ve wasted money, enriching only agencies and vendors quick to slop at a trough…