A California Court of Appeals judge recently ruled in People v. Lieng that there's no constitutional problem with police using night vision goggles to see things that they couldn't otherwise see. In Kyllo v. United States the Supreme Court had ruled that police could not use a thermal imaging device without a warrant, and you'd think the same rule would apply here, but it … [Read more...] about The Physics of Privacy
Free Speech At the Fringes
Over at the Legal Satyricon, Charles Platt is a little annoyed at Julian Assange over the whole Wikileaks business: I'm getting an uneasy feeling when I watch Julian Assange using pretentious phrases such as "my philosophy" and "my work." ... It's the same feeling I had when I saw the World Trade Center going down. A feeling that I am watching a golden opportunity for people … [Read more...] about Free Speech At the Fringes
U.S. v. Julian Assange, A Prediction
Every once in a while, I get the urge to make predictions. That's because I believe that if someone claims to understand something, they should be able to successfully predict future developments. My track record, therefore, demonstrates that I don't understand anything. (Oh, sure, I called a few easy ones, like that John Mark Karr didn't really kill JonBenet Ramsey or that … [Read more...] about U.S. v. Julian Assange, A Prediction
Right on Crime
Thanks to Scott Greenfield, I just found a new site that just might turn out to be a great source of things to blog about. It's called Right on Crime, and it promises to be about "The Conservative Case For Reform: Fighting Crime, Prioritizing Victims, and Protecting Taxpayers." With a tag line like that, something tells me they don't have a lot of libertarians on their board. … [Read more...] about Right on Crime
On Joel Rosenberg’s Sanity, Safe Gun Handling, and Why You Should Always Check Who’s Sitting Behind You in the Rarig Center Theater
Joel Rosenberg's arrest is getting a bit of coverage around the blogosphere, and while folks like Scott Greenfield and Mike Cernovich are supportive, not all of the coverage is sympathetic. For example, Greg Laden at ScienceBlogs has a less-than flattering piece titled "Jew with a gun tries to make point, gets busted, is very creepy." (I should inject here that Laden isn't … [Read more...] about On Joel Rosenberg’s Sanity, Safe Gun Handling, and Why You Should Always Check Who’s Sitting Behind You in the Rarig Center Theater