I was a juror in a case where a man was accused of attacking a cop who had pulled him over for a traffic violation. We convicted him because his story wasn't believable for a number of reasons, one of which was his claim that the cop attacked him out of the blue without provocation. That just seemed unlikely. I wonder how we would have felt if we'd seen this video before the … [Read more...] about Without Provocation
Ugly Details Alleged in the Lima Drug Raid
Speaking of drug raids, a while back I posted about a raid in which the Lima, Ohio SWAT team killed Tarika Wilson. For that post, I was taken to task twice (here and here) by people who called me ignorant of police tactics. I'm sure they're right, but that just doesn't matter, because you don't have to be an expert on police tactics to know that something is wrong when … [Read more...] about Ugly Details Alleged in the Lima Drug Raid
They Always Shoot the Dogs
Yet another pointless drug raid: "My government blew through my doors and killed my dogs," Calvo said. "They thought we were drug dealers, and we were treated as such. I don't think they really ever considered that we weren't." This time the victim is the Mayor of Berwyn Heights, Maryland, so this is getting a little attention outside the libertarian blogosphere. His two dogs … [Read more...] about They Always Shoot the Dogs
Why People Hate Cops
I'm something of a libertarian, and libertarianism is about fighting big government. Usually when push comes to shove, it's law enforcement officers who are the point of the government's spear. So it would be easy to hate cops. I try not to, though. Most of the cops I know seem like pretty decent folks doing a job that I couldn't do. They don't invent the rules, they just have … [Read more...] about Why People Hate Cops
The Trouble With Mortgage Bailouts
Moby Kip posts about the many, many problems with the home mortgage bailout bill, which seems to be designed to lure still more financially marginal families into home ownership. And for some reason it even includes a tax handout to a giant company that has nothing to do with the real estate business. … [Read more...] about The Trouble With Mortgage Bailouts