The principal attribute of a campaign against photography, or the encroachment on private property rights (see, “Is a Man’s Home Still His Castle? – Washington Examiner“) is that officials aim to take from American citizens rights that Americans now have, and have historically had. This is the dark – and reactionary — side of contemporary…
Law
Law, Liberty
Is a man’s home still his castle? | Washington Examiner
by JOHN ADAMS •
But to arrest someone who is unmistakably on their own property, and doing nothing remotely illegal, is an abuse of power pure and simple. Even if it were true that Gibson was endangering herself by witnessing the traffic stop from the confines of her front porch, how could that possibly be construed as “resisting arrest”…
Law
Jonathan Tobin: The Federal Government’s Steroids Problem
by JOHN ADAMS •
A waste of resources, and prosecutorial grandstanding. These cases suck time and money that should be allocated against violent crime. Tobin has it just right: The news today that former baseball great Roger Clemens has been indicted on federal perjury charges will, no doubt, serve as the catalyst for another outpouring of moral outrage about…
Government Spending, Law
Wall Street Journal – SEC Sues New Jersey as States’ Finances Stir Fears
by JOHN ADAMS •
One can expect to read of more suits like this, against sundry state and local governments that have issued bonds – The Securities and Exchange Commission, in its first securities-fraud case against a state, accused New Jersey of misleading investors about the health of its two largest state pensions while selling billions of dollars in…
Law
State, ACLU to settle suit over female prisoner care – JSOnline
by JOHN ADAMS •
It was right for the State of Wisconsin to settle — a justice system where a prison for men provides preferential medical care compared with a prison for women is no justice system at all. The state must spend hundreds of thousands of dollars to provide female prisoners with the same level of health care…
Development, Law
Eminent domain controversy prompts Greenfield to rethink development plan – GreenfieldNOW
by JOHN ADAMS •
It’s simply wrong and a misuse of the definition of ‘blight’ to use eminent domain law for supposed blight when all a municipal government would do would be to replace one ongoing private business with another one. State Sen. Mary Lazich entered the fray in the redevelopment discussions on Tuesday, saying she will introduce legislation…
Law
Trial by Jury in Civil Lawsuits
by JOHN ADAMS •
In A Libertarian’s Misplaced Attack on the Constitution, Ken Connor defends the common law — and later U.S. Constitution’s Seventh Amendment protection of trial by jury: “In suits at common law, where the value in controversy shall exceed twenty dollars, the right of trial by jury shall be preserved, and no fact tried by a…
Law
Wehner: Republicans Fumble Immigration
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law, Liberty
Divorcing Marriage and Government
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s considerable talk about a federal judge’s ruling involving California’s Proposition 8, a proposition that defines marriage under California law. There’s discussion of the ruling, laws and constitutional provisions in other states that are similar to Proposition 8, and the politics of it all. Like most libertarians, I don’t think these discussions are broad enough…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Police
Reason.tv: Five Ways the Drug War Hurts Kids: A Conversation with Neill Franklin of LEAP
by JOHN ADAMS •
Freedom of Speech, Law, Liberty
Opposing groups challenge Wis. campaign money rule
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel On Wisconsin Attorney General Van Hollen’s Memo on Email and Public Records
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s much to consider about Wisconsin’s Public Records Law, before and after the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s decision in Schill v. Wisconsin Rapids School District . Attorney General Van Hollen — who has been fair in analyzing Wisconsin’s Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. 19.31-19.39) and Open Meetings Law (Wis. Stat. 19.81-19.98) — offered a memorandum on…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Politics
Update: Let Ieshuh Griffin Run with Her Chosen Description on the Wisconsin Ballot
by JOHN ADAMS •
I posted earlier today on the effort of a Milwaukee woman running as an independent candidate for the Wisconsin Assembly to use the words “NOT the whiteman’s bitch” as her statement of principle on the ballot. The Government Accountability Board denied her request, as she received a majority supporting her effort, but not the required…
Freedom of Speech, Law, Politics
Let Ieshuh Griffin Run with Her Chosen Description on the Wisconsin Ballot
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’d never heard of Ieshuh Griffin, an independent candidate for a seat in Wisconsin’s Assembly, until Wednesday. I read yesterday about the Government Accountability Board’s denial of her request to describe her candidacy on the November ballot with the words “NOT the Whiteman’s Bitch.” (Candidates may have a brief description of their candidacies on the…