Scott interviews Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice about the case of José Oliva, a Vietnam veteran who was assaulted by police officers at a VA hospital in 2016. Because of doctrines like qualified immunity, it has taken years just to reach the point where...
Institute for Justice
Supreme Court Refuses To Reconsider Its Doctrine of ‘Qualified Immunity’ for Police
by John Kramer | Jun 17, 2020 | Criminal Justice, Featured Articles
The U.S. Supreme Court today refused to hear eight separate cases that had presented opportunities to reconsider its doctrine of “qualified immunity.” That doctrine, created by the Supreme Court in 1982, holds that government officials can be held accountable for...
US Supreme Court Will Hear Police Accountability Case
by John Kramer | Apr 1, 2020 | Featured Articles, Justice
Arlington, Virginia—This morning the U.S. Supreme Court announced it would review the case of James King, an innocent college student who was savagely beaten in 2014 by a police officer and FBI agent in Grand Rapids, Michigan, after being unreasonably misidentified as...
3/27/20 Patrick Jaicomo on Our Unaccountable Overlords
by Scott Horton | Mar 28, 2020 | The Scott Horton Show
Patrick Jaicomo of the Institute for Justice discusses the (brief) history of the "qualified immunity" doctrine, which makes it very difficult for civilians to sue government agents for constitutional rights violations. Jaicomo breaks down the different types of legal...
9th. Circuit Ferry Fight Has Potential To Free Up Entrepreneurs
by Phil Gibson | Mar 26, 2020 | Blog
Pasadena, Calif.—On Monday, March 30, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals will consider a case in which two entrepreneurs have spent 23 years trying to travel 55 miles by boat—and they have yet to reach their destination. Read the full article at the Institute for...
Police Stole $225K in Cash and Coins, and the Court Said “Okay”
by J. Justin Wilson | Mar 19, 2020 | Events, Featured Articles, Justice
Arlington, Va.—Seven years ago, police officers in Fresno, California, executed search warrants on the homes and business of Micah Jessop and Brittan Ashjian, who owned a business operating and servicing ATMs. Police were investigating a report of illegal gambling....
Following Federal Lawsuit, Richland, Wa. Drops Unconstitutional Street-Fees Law
by Matt Powers | Jan 31, 2020 | Economics, Featured Articles
Following a federal lawsuit brought by the Institute for Justice, the City of Richland has ended its practice of unconstitutionally forcing homeowners to upgrade city streets as a condition of obtaining a building permit. As a result of that change, Linda Cameron is...
New Jersey Assembly Passes Transparency Bill For Police Seizures
by Nick Sibilla | Dec 18, 2019 | Featured Articles, Justice
The New Jersey Assembly unanimously passed a bill late Monday that would shine a light on “civil forfeiture,” which lets law enforcement seize property without ever charging the owner with a crime. In New Jersey, once property is forfeited, the government can then...
Homeowners Seek Rehearing in House-Destruction Case
by Andrew Wimer | Nov 25, 2019 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism
Arlington, Va.—If the government needs to destroy your home to build a freeway or a school, the Constitution entitles you to just compensation. But what if the government needs to destroy your home for some other reason—say, to capture a fugitive who has randomly...
North Carolina Surgeon Wins First Round in Fight to Eliminate State-enforced Medical Monopoly
by J. Justin Wilson | Nov 20, 2019 | Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism
Today, a state superior court judge denied the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services’ motion to dismiss a constitutional challenge to a law that bans medical providers from purchasing an MRI scanner without first obtaining special permission—called a...
Save the Pearl: New Group Formed to Oppose Tulsa Development Authority’s Eminent Domain Plans
by Conor Beck | Nov 13, 2019 | Economics, Featured Articles, Justice, Libertarianism
A community in Tulsa joins together to stop city officials from following through with plans to tear down homes for “urban renewal” Tulsa, Okla.—Today, residents and supporters of Tulsa’s Pearl District announced the formation of a new group, Save the Pearl Coalition....
New Report Nations Largest Forfeiture Program Fails To Fight Crime
by Andrew Wimer | Jun 17, 2019 | Featured Articles, Politics
A new Institute for Justice study (PDF) finds the nation’s largest forfeiture program does not help police fight crime. Instead, the study indicates police use forfeiture to boost revenue—in other words, to police for profit. The IJ study, “Fighting Crime or Raising...
Virginia Couple Sues to Protect Their First Amendment Right to Teach
by Andrew Wimer | Jul 26, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice
In Virginia, you can teach anyone anything—except how to earn an honest living. That’s the lesson Jon and Tracy McGlothian learned when they tried to open a school to teach job skills to adults in their Virginia Beach community. Yet the State Council of Higher...
TSA and Border Patrol stole his life savings but never charged him with a crime
by A. Trevor Thrall and Erik Goepner | Jun 1, 2018 | Featured Articles, Justice
His American dream was helping his family in Albania. It ended when he walked through security at Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. A U.S. citizen for more than a decade, Rustem Kazazi was flying back to Europe to help his Albanian family repair their home and...
Blog
The Capitalist Competition Myth
Capitalism involves far more cooperation than competition—think of the number of mutually beneficial transactions you’ve had today compared to the number of competitions you’ve been in today - Chris Freiman, author of Why It's OK to Ignore Politics Democratic...
Blame Mexico? Blame Neocons! Blame Big Pharma! Blame the USA!
ABC News: If fentanyl is so deadly, why do drug dealers use it to lace illicit drugs? I have an alternative explanation. America has been fighting endless wars almost the entire century. Many have come home from these never-ending wars with injuries and pains. Doctors...
My Testimony Before the Maine State Senate
In support of Ld 1054, Defend the Guard legislation: Thank you all so much for the opportunity to testify before your committee today. Today is the 20th anniversary of the beginning of Iraq War II. The consensus now is that we should not have done it. Iraq was not...
These Iraq War Supporters Are Still in Congress
On March 19, 2003 the United States began its military invasion of Iraq. The Authorization for Use of Military Force Against Iraq passed Congress in October 2002, with 296 congressmen and 77 senators voting in favor of giving President George W. Bush carte blanche...
Laci Green is Wrong: Democratic Competition vs. Free Market Competition
In environments where there's a lot of competition, people tend to lie out their ass and you can apply this to any competitive situation. Take capitalism. As industrialization took full effect, the Federal Government had to interfere because there was so much false...
Empower the Workers: Decriminalize Economic Activity Between Consenting Adults
The most reliable and effective protection for most workers is provided by the existence of many employers. As we have seen, a person who has only one possible employer has little or no protection. The employers who protect a worker are those who would like to hire...
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