'Too Much Law' Gives Prosecutors Enormous Power To Ruin People's Lives
In a new book, Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch describes the "human toll" of proliferating criminal penalties.
Due Process
South Carolina Cops Target Out-of-State Drivers for Highway Robbery
No arrest necessary as South Carolina police hunt for cash
Operation Rolling Thunder: The Shocking Truth Behind Spartanburg's Traffic Stops
A 21-month legal battle unveils the dark side of South Carolina's annual traffic crackdown.
Prosecutor of Anti-Trump Protesters Allegedly Withheld Exculpatory Evidence and Lied About It
According to disciplinary charges against Jennifer Kerkhoff Muyskens, she suppressed video evidence that would have helped DisruptJ20 defendants.
Wall Street Journal Reporter Evan Gershkovich Released From Russian Captivity
Gershkovich was released Thursday in an elaborate prisoner swap involving two dozen prisoners from at least six countries.
Two SCOTUS Cases Show How an Unaccountable Administrative State Hurts 'Ordinary People'
Contrary to progressive criticism, curtailing bureaucratic power is not about protecting "the wealthy and powerful."
The Supreme Court Didn't Destroy the Regulatory State. It Stood Up for Due Process.
Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson says these cases will "devastate" the regulatory state. Good.
SCOTUS Repudiates Doctrine That Gave Agencies a License To Invent Their Own Authority
The Court says Chevron deference allows bureaucrats to usurp a judicial function, creating "an eternal fog of uncertainty" about what the law allows or requires.
SCOTUS Rules SEC's In-House Handling of Securities Fraud Cases Violates the Right to Trial by Jury
The decision rejects a system in which the agency imposes civil penalties after investigating people and validating its own allegations.
The Supreme Court Again Strengthens the Right to a Jury Trial in Criminal Sentencing
Paul Erlinger was sentenced to 15 years in prison based largely on a determination made by a judge—not a jury.
SCOTUS Dodges a Crucial Problem With Disarming People Based on Restraining Orders
The Court says "a credible threat" justifies a ban on gun possession but does not address situations where there is no such judicial finding.
Ian Vasquez: What Has Javier Milei Accomplished in Argentina?
The Cato Institute's Ian Vasquez recently organized a conference in Argentina featuring President Javier Milei. He gives an update on the presidency.
A Federal Judge Rejects the Lame Excuses of Texas Cops Who Kidnapped a Supposedly 'Abandoned' Teenager
The decision clears the way for a jury to consider Megan and Adam McMurry's constitutional claims against the officers who snatched their daughter.
Critics Fundamentally Misconstrue the Supreme Court's Bump Stock Ruling
The case hinged on the ATF’s statutory authority, not the Second Amendment.
Supreme Court Upholds the Rule of Law by Rejecting the Trump Administration's Bump Stock Ban
Six justices agreed that federal regulators had misconstrued the statutory definition of a machine gun.
A Jumble of Legal Theories Failed To Give Trump 'Fair Notice' of the New York Charges Against Him
The lack of a clear rationale for charging Trump with 34 felonies raises a due process issue that is likely to figure in his appeals.
California Man Gets $900,000 Settlement for 'Psychological Torture' During 17-Hour Police Interrogation
Detectives in Fontana, California, told Thomas Perez Jr. that his father was dead and that he killed him. Neither was true.
Can This Woman Sue the Rogue Prosecutor Who Allegedly Helped Upend Her Life?
Prosecutor Ralph Petty was also employed as a law clerk—by the same judges he argued before.
Supreme Court Rules No Due Process Right to Preliminary Hearings in Civil Asset Forfeiture Cases
The cars of two Alabama women were seized for more than a year before courts found they were innocent owners. The Supreme Court says they had no constitutional right to a preliminary hearing.
California Students Get $1 Million After They Were Expelled for Wearing Supposedly Racist Acne Masks
School officials falsely accused the boys of posing for a photo in blackface.
TikTok Asks Court To Declare Ban Unconstitutional
Congress is "silencing the 170 million Americans who use the platform to communicate," the company argues.
Minnesota's Indefinite Detention of Sex Offenders Is Ineffective As Well As Unjust
A new report argues that the notorious program squanders taxpayer money while keeping people imprisoned without justification or recourse.
Florida Man's Tall Grass Saga Comes to an End
One man’s overgrown yard became a six-year struggle against overzealous code enforcement.
New Title IX Rules Erase Campus Due Process Protections
The new rules allow students to be found guilty of assaulting a classmate without ever seeing the full evidence against them.
The Kansas Legislature Unanimously Passed a Civil Asset Forfeiture Reform Bill
Kansas had among the most lax civil asset forfeiture laws in the country, but a bill sent to the governor's desk would strengthen protections for property owners.
A Florida Judge Says $165,000 in Fines for 3 Minor Code Violations Is Not 'Excessive'
Sandy Martinez faces that bill because of driveway cracks, a storm-damaged fence, and cars parked on her own property that illegally touched her lawn.
Republicans Split on Whether FBI Should Be Able To Snoop Without a Warrant
A Section 702 reauthorization moving through Congress could actually weaken privacy protections.
Florida Appellate Court Disqualifies Judge in Gender-Transition Child Removal Case
Did the judge's remarks "suggest[] she had predetermined that the father had no right to oppose gender transition or otherwise direct the child's upbringing based upon his moral and religious beliefs"?
Kansas Police Seized Her Truck. It Took Her 8 Months To Get it Back, Despite Never Being Charged With a Crime.
Dewonna Goodridge quickly discovered that Kansas civil asset forfeiture laws were stacked against her when sheriff's deputies seized her truck.
Sheriff Who Presided Over Violent 'Goon Squad' Tries To Play Dumb
"Nobody's ever reported that to me," Rankin County Sheriff Bryan Bailey said after his deputies admitted to brutalizing innocent people.
SCOTUS Ponders the Implications of Prosecuting Gun Owners for a Crime Invented by Bureaucrats
Several justices seemed troubled by an ATF rule that purports to ban bump stocks by reinterpreting the federal definition of machine guns.
4 Reasons Trump Says a Judge Should Dismiss Charges in the Classified Documents Case
His lawyers assert presidential immunity and discretion, criticize an "unconstitutionally vague" statute, and question the special counsel's legal status.
Alvin Bragg Is Trying To Punish Trump for Something That Is Not a Crime
The essence of the case, the Manhattan D.A. says, is that Trump "corrupt[ed] a presidential election" by concealing embarrassing information.
He Was Charged With Human Trafficking for Driving His Wife to Work
"The sole basis for targeting Joe was the race/ethnicity of his wife and her occupation" at an Asian massage parlor, the lawsuit claims.
SCOTUS Ponders the Ambiguity of 'Ambiguous' and Other Chevron Doctrine Puzzles
The justices seem inclined to revise or ditch a 1984 precedent that requires deference to executive agencies' statutory interpretations.
The Chevron Doctrine Discomfits the Weak
Excessive judicial deference gives administrative agencies a license to rewrite the law in their favor.
How a Teen Locker Room Butt Slap Triggered a 2-Year Investigation
The story shows what can happen when those accused of misconduct are subjected to opaque investigations with little due process.
Who Decides Whether Trump Can Run, and What Sort of Evidence Suffices?
Letting state officials determine whether a candidate has "engaged in insurrection" opens a huge can of worms.
5th Circuit Reluctantly Rules Against Victim of a Prosecutor Who Was Also a Law Clerk
Ralph Petty's "conflicted dual-hat arrangement" as an advocate and an adjudicator was "utterly bonkers," Judge Don Willett notes.
The Next Kids Climate Case: Genesis B. v. EPA
Another climate change lawsuit filed on behalf of children, this time against the Environmental Protection Agency.
North Carolina Strip Club Now Safe From County's Eminent Domain Efforts
After public backlash, Hanover County Commission has decided to pursue a voluntary purchase of the Cheetah Premier Gentlemen's Club next door.
The Seventh Amendment, Private Rights, and Administrative Penalties
a few comments on the oral arguments in SEC v. Jarkesy
Seattle Banned Landlords From Rejecting Tenants Based on Criminal Records. Will the Supreme Court Step in?
The political push behind the law was well-meaning. But it will backfire on many prospective renters.
Do You Still Have the Right to a Jury Trial?
The Supreme Court will consider whether federal agencies’ administrative judges violate the Seventh Amendment.
Goodbye to Detroit's Asset Forfeiture Racket
Wayne County was seizing cars and using its less-fortunate residents as piggy banks.
The Supreme Court Should Not Let Bureaucrats Invent Crimes by Rewriting the Law
The Trump administration’s unilateral ban on bump stocks turned owners of those rifle accessories into felons.
Only 'Dangerous Individuals' Lose Their Gun Rights Because of Protective Orders, the Government Says
Solicitor General Elizabeth Prelogar falsely claims a federal gun ban "requires individualized findings of dangerousness."
