Over at Crimlaw, Virginia prosecutor Ken Lammers writes about the state's law allowing private prosecutions. It's a fascinating concept, and Ken goes into a bit of detail, but it comes down to this: So, basically, if doubly approved by the judge and the public prosecutor, the hired gun prosecutor can take part in the case as long as he is under the control of the Commonwealth … [Read more...] about Paying For Prosecutions in Virginia?
Liberty Is Not Suicide
Over at Defending Dandelions, "nidefatt" isn't happy with libertarians like myself and Scott Greenfield. (I don't think Scott's ever identified himself as a libertarian, but he sometimes sounds like one.) In an earlier post, he commented on Scott's constitution-is-not-a-suicide-pact post, and more recently he responded to my own response to Scott's post: [...] The ideas are … [Read more...] about Liberty Is Not Suicide
Law Enforcement
Now here's a Facebook meme that makes sense. It's from Filming Cops, but the true adversary here is not the police officer:This isn't some paranoid, whack-job, cop hating-nonsense. It's an accurate description of how all criminal laws are enforced.Even a minor violation such as loitering can have a penalty of several hundred dollars, which is probably an awful lot … [Read more...] about Law Enforcement
The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact
"The Constitution is not a suicide pact."The first time I heard that phrase, I thought it was a pretty good line, and I agreed with it. In a sense, I still do. That's because the first time I heard it I interpreted it backwards from how most people do when they invoke it. I never knew why the other interpretation was the one that caught on.I stumbled on the answer the … [Read more...] about The Constitution Is Not a Suicide Pact
An Unfortunate Message For Police
Radley Balko reports with some astonishment that a grand jury in Burleson County, Texas has refused to indict a man who shot and killed a police officer who was conducting a SWAT-style raid on his home: Last December 19th, nine of the 10 members of the Burleson County Sheriff’s Department staged a raid on the rural home of Henry Magee. [...]By the time the raid was over, … [Read more...] about An Unfortunate Message For Police