Creeping Totalitarianism

By the way, Radley Balko is not just a guy who knows how to find wacky videos. He's also one of the most interesting investigative reporters working today. His latest piece is about some of the shocking things being done in the area of civil asset forfeiture. I've been saying for a while that asset forfeiture is theft by government employees, but what I didn't realize is that … [Read more...] about The Continuing Evil of Civil Asset Forfeiture

Here's an angle on the TSA's new full-body imaging that I wish I'd thought of: Wouldn't a full-body image of someone under the age of 18 be child pornography as a matter of law? Maybe. … [Read more...] about The TSA as Child Porn Ring

At some point, Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio decided that the rules no longer applied to him. He and his deputies had all the guns, so why couldn't they do whatever they want? If those guys in Somalia and Afganistan could become warlords, why couldn't he do it right here in America? I think it must have started years ago, back when I first heard about Apaio. He was billing … [Read more...] about The Warlord of Maricopa

Joe Arpaio is a scary guy. He's the Sheriff of Maricopa County in Arizona, and if things go the wrong way today, I think he'll be the closest thing this country has to a third-world warlord. As usual, Scott Greenfield explains. … [Read more...] about The Warlord of Maricopa

In response to my recent missive ("Beating Customs Agents With Your Laptop") about the fourth-amendment-free zone overseen by U.S. Customs and Border Protection, Lawrence Friedman at Customs Law sent an email explaining some of what can really happen when you try to apply technogeek law to the real world: In response to your encryption-deleted key suggestion, you might think … [Read more...] about Customs Agents Beat You Back