Here’s a question about (limited) government: If the residents of a town want an official fired, is the fundamental problem that they’re asking that he be fired, or the reason that they’re asking? In the Township of Linn, not far from Whitewater, a group of residents want the police chief fired. They’ve filed a complaint…
Law
Law, Politics
Wisconsin Supreme Court Deadlocks in the Gableman Ethics Case
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin’s newest Supreme Court justice, Michael Gableman, is embroiled in an ethics case, and Wednesday night (!) that court deadlocked on whether Gableman committed misconduct. See, Supreme Court Deadlocks in Gableman Ethics Case. The issue before the court was. as Ryan Foley of the Associated Press notes, was “whether Justice Michael Gableman violated the judicial…
Law, Liberty
Reason.tv: “Citizenship and the Pursuit of Happiness”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over an Independence Day holiday, I can think of no more inspiring story than that of people who have become American citizens. Enjoy. “Reason.tv caught up with immigrants to learn why they moved to a country that defines itself as a multicultural melting pot. Citizenship: The Pursuit of Happiness was produced and edited by Dan…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Liberty
Can Government Tell You What You Must Eat? Is There No Limit to Federal Power Under The Commerce Clause?
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a lot of commentary about the Kagan nomination, although public interest seems tepid. I’ve not mentioned anything about her nomination, mostly because I have no strong view. I believe she’s surely adequately qualified in education, experience, and intellect. She’s no one’s ideal nominee, but absent a showing of official misconduct, the president’s qualified nominees…
City, Law
Good, Open Government and Email
by JOHN ADAMS •
Wisconsin has both a Public Records Law (Wis. Stat. ss. 19.31-19.39 (2003)), and an Open Meetings Law (Wis. Stat. ss. 19.81-19.98. Both are designed to ensure that citizens will have access to government actions in communication and deliberation. These laws represent the goal of an open Wisconsin, committed to good and open, limited and responsible…
Law, Liberty
Reason: Libertarians Respond to [Victory for Individual Rights in] McDonald v. City of Chicago
by JOHN ADAMS •
Law, Liberty
Ilya Shapiro on McDonald v. City of Chicago: “The Court Restores a Fundamental Right”
by JOHN ADAMS •
Over at Cato@Liberty, Ilya Shapiro offers his early assessment of a United States Supreme Court case correctly applying the Second Amendment to the states. See, Ilya Shapiro on McDonald v. City of Chicago: “The Court Restores a Fundamental Right.” He’s right to note how close this decision was, and how unfortunate and unsettling it is…
City, Law
The City of Whitewater’s Test of Impartiality and Fairness
by JOHN ADAMS •
I wrote last week about the City of Whitewater’s survey for information about a community calendar on the municipal website. See, Community Calendars. FREE WHITEWATER’s not really a community calendar, but there are private ones already available, so the city’s suggestion that it might produce its own version is odd. There’s no insuperable impediment to…
Law, Planning
The Institute for Justice on Five Years Since Kelo: Considering One of the Supreme Court’s Most-Despised Decisions
by JOHN ADAMS •
Five years ago, the United States Supreme Court handed down a poor, and consequently notorious, decision in Kelo v. City of New London. Here’s a brief summary of the case, as described in the preceding link: The case arose from the condemnation by New London, Connecticut, of privately owned real property so that it could…
Law
The Ineffectual and Tragic Approach
by JOHN ADAMS •
We have every reason to be concerned about the dangers of drug dependency for individuals and society; we have no reason to persist in trying to overcome drug dependency with the costly and ineffectual methods we’ve used these past three decades. Illegal narcotics are a bad thing; the methods of the war on drugs haven’t…
Law, Libertarians, Liberty
Cathy Young on Racism, Civil Rights, and Libertarians
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s been a controversy over remarks that Rand Paul, a Republican candidate for U.S. senate made, about the 1964 Civil Rights Act. While on an MSNBC program, Paul (the son of libertarian-leaning Republican Ron Paul) implied that he supported the right of private private businesses to decide whom to serve. (The 1964 Act prohibits the…
Government Spending, Law, Laws/Regulations, Police
Sarah Palin’s Right: Minor Marijuana Arrests Are a Waste of Police Resources
by JOHN ADAMS •
I’ve supported reform of Wisconsin’s laws so that chronically ill people can take regulated medical marijuana lawfully. I think reform in Wisconsin is long overdue, and that although reform did not pass in our recent legislative session, it one day will. When that happens, Wisconsin will join many other states that allow medically prescribed marijuana.…
Law
Wired on “Spamming” a Judge
by JOHN ADAMS •
There’s a story at the Wired website about a contempt citation for spamming a federal judge that the U.S. Seventh Circuit Court of Appeals recently overturned. See, Spamming a Judge. Infomercial king Kevin Trudeau had been sentenced to thirty days’ time for contempt of court, because he urged his followers to write to the federal…
Law, Laws/Regulations, Police
Maryland: Still Wrong on Civil Liberties
by JOHN ADAMS •
I have written about the disregard for civil liberties in Maryland before. See, Something’s Rotten about Policing in the State of Maryland, and Elsewhere. In that earlier post, I wrote about a SWAT raid gone bad — in almost every which way — at the home of the completely law-abiding mayor of Berwyn Heights. Maryland’s…