Creeping Totalitarianism

So there I am, reading Norm Pattis's latest missive: The government has seized the life savings of a hard working couple whose son was growing marijuana in their basement. The feds also want to seize the couple's home. There is no evidence to suggest the couple was complicit in their child's activity. None. The pot was in a remote corner of the basement behind a wall. You … [Read more...] about Norm Pattis Fights Evil

I've always been a bit wary of extremely overt flag-waving patriots. Maybe it's just a reaction I have after watching the hoards of people forced to wave Soviet flags while at gunpoint, or the coerced crowds joining in the celebrations of Mao's Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution by furiously whipping little Chinese flags to and fro.Some of those people … [Read more...] about Pledge Allegiance or Go to Jail

Scott Greenfield points out that if the police ask to search your car and you consent, the courts have ruled that you are consenting to let the police take your car apart. Here's the language he quotes from United States v. Garcia: The search here was reasonable. When the officers requested permission to search the truck after asking Garcia whether he was carrying "anything … [Read more...] about Another Reason Not To Consent To Searches

Police officers in Fairfax County, Virginia, have been killing civilians. Then they've been stonewalling everyone who asks about it, not even revealing the names of the officers who pulled the trigger: Last November along the roadside of Richmond Highway, a major thoroughfare in Fairfax County, Virginia, a police officer shot and killed David Masters, an unarmed motorist, as … [Read more...] about The Murderous Cops of Fairfax County, Virginia

Matt Brown at the Chander Criminal Defense blog had a client who was accused of hurting her child, but the prosecutor dropped the charges. Nevertheless, Arizona Child Protective Services apparently ignored all that and conducted their own investigation. Brown blogged his account of their interview with his client. It's one of the most chilling things I've ever read. The … [Read more...] about Abuse, Involving Children