A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | The Libertarian Institute

Jury Leaves $4 to Family of Man Killed by Sheriff’s Deputy, Along With Many Questions

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | Jun 1, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice

For more than four years, questions swirled about the shooting death of Gregory Vaughn Hill Jr. at his home in Fort Pierce, Fla. After all, there were only three witnesses to how the entire episode unfolded: two St. Lucie County sheriff’s deputies and Mr. Hill. Mr. Hill, a 30-year-old African-American, was fatally shot by a white sheriff’s deputy who had responded to a noise complaint about music Mr. Hill had been playing in his garage. Toxicology reports showed Mr. Hill was drunk at the time. And after a brief encounter with the deputies, he was discovered dead inside the garage with a gun...

In the wake of FOSTA/SESTA, sex workers and allied activists are building new safety networks and lobbying support.

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | Jun 1, 2018 | Featured Articles, Politics

Earlier this month, sex workers and allies walked 14 blocks down Michigan Avenue in Chicago in what they called a “Funeral for the Death of Sex Work.” The New Orleans-style funeral procession, complete with a brass band and women sporting mourning hats, veils, and stilettos, was organized by a sex worker and activist named Harpy Anna. Her goal, she said in an interview, was to draw attention to the loss of safe working conditions after the president signed controversial legislation that effectively limits the online tools sex workers use. The effects of FOSTA/SESTA, which intends to combat...

Illinois legislature approves bill allowing police drones to monitor large gatherings of people

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | Jun 1, 2018 | Featured Articles, Politics

The Illinois House of Representatives on Wednesday passed a bill greatly expanding the ability of state's police departments to deploy unmanned aerial vehicles, or drones, to surveil any large gathering of people. The measure targets any public or private assembly of at least 1,500 people. The House had defeated a previous version of the bill last week after Chicago-area Democrats, wary that additional police drones would unfairly target events in predominately black neighborhoods, objected to the bill's allowance of facial-recognition software and a much lower threshold for crowd sizes. The...

Ex-cop who gunned down ex-wife has a nearly 700-page internal affairs file

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | Jun 1, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice

A former Neptune Township police sergeant who gunned down his ex-wife as she sat helplessly in the driver's seat of her car had an internal affairs file that is nearly 700 pages - and was asked to stay on the force even after he offered to retire prior to the 2015 slaying. That's according to a new lawsuit filed Monday. Less than a year after Philip Seidle -- who had already served two suspensions for domestic violence and briefly had his service weapon taken away -- offered to turn in his badge and his gun for good, he used that same weapon to pump a dozen shots into his ex-wife, Tamara...

First Congress Took Sex Workers’ Websites. Now It’s Coming For Their Bank Accounts.

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | May 31, 2018 | Economics, Featured Articles, Politics

A new law that shuttered websites used by voluntary sex workers to screen clients has already forced some to risk their lives by returning to the streets to find business. But the broad bipartisan alliance that passed that legislation last month isn’t done. Now, Sens. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) and Marco Rubio (R-Fla.), who both voted for the first bill, are pushing a proposal in the Senate that would impose similar restrictions on sex workers’ bank accounts — a move that sex workers say could further endanger their income, safety and lives. Just like last month’s Allow States and Victims to...

Trump signs 'right-to-try' allowing gravely ill patients to bypass FDA for experimental medicines

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | May 31, 2018 | Featured Articles, Politics

President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence had been major supporters of the "right-to-try" legislation, which would bypass drug regulators to give gravely ill patients access to experimental medicines. Proponents say this gives patients hope they would not otherwise have. Critics say the legislation undermines the FDA's authority to regulate drugs and could leave patients vulnerable to medicines that might not work or may even be harmful. Read the rest at CNBC.com.

Trump warns Kim about ‘massive and powerful’ U.S. nukes

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | May 24, 2018 | Featured Articles, Foreign Policy

President Donald Trump on Thursday canceled his planned summit with Kim Jong Un, scolding the North Korean leader in a letter for "tremendous anger and open hostility" while also bluntly reminding Kim of the United States' nuclear prowess. The scuttling of the meeting, which had been scheduled for June 12 in Singapore, is a blow to U.S. efforts to persuade North Korea to give up its nuclear weapons, as well as Trump's desire to land a legacy-making deal with the hermetic nation. It also raises the risk of conflict in East Asia and has rattled U.S. allies South Korea and Japan. “Sadly, based...

Police set dog on a driver who politely refuses to answer questions

by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | May 24, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice

https://youtu.be/8985Of40hTo Read the rest at boingboing.net.

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