More often than not, when I write about the criminal justice system generally or write about specific cases the news is very bad. This time I have not one, not two, but three very positive developments in three separate cases that have to this point been very negative. #1 Larimer County Commissioners will Not Cap [...]

It had to happen sooner or later – a song about no knock raids. Be warned, this music video contains disturbing footage from actual no knock raids. But you know what? This is an issue that we should be disturbed about. What disturbs me the most is the double standard concerning shootings in these raids. [...]

Last Friday, June 17, 2011 marked the 40th anniversary of Richard Nixon’s “War on Drugs.” As Jacob Sullum points out here, the drug war didn’t actually begin with Nixon and it’s not likely to end on Obama’s watch (even though the Obama administration admits that current drug policy over this period has been a failure). [...]

Was 2010 a good year or bad year for liberty and why? Like most of you will likely respond, 2010 was very much a mixed bag IMHO. On the positive side, the mandate section of ObamaCare was found unconstitutional, the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy was repealed, Wikileaks exposed the federal government for the [...]

Ernie Suggs of The Atlanta Constitution reports: Four years after rogue APD narcotics officers killed 92-year-old Kathryn Johnston during an illegal raid of her home, Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed has offered her family a $4.9 million settlement. […] Reed said the resolution of the case is an important healing step for the city and the [...]

It was five years ago today, that the Supreme Court issued it’s decision in Kelo v. City of New London In 1998 the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced plans to build a giant new research and development center in New London, Connecticut. As part of the deal, city officials agreed to clear out neighboring property owners [...]

With my busy work schedule as it is, I managed to miss the very encouraging news that Cory Maye will get a new trial! I think it will be very interesting how his second trial unfolds now that he will have a better legal team with better expert witnesses to debunk the dubious testimony of [...]

In the annals of Supreme Court history, there are perhaps only a handful of cases that go down in history as more egregious than what happened in Suzette Kelo v. City of New London. In that case, the Supreme Court approved an eminent domain taking by the City of New London, Connecticut that involved taking [...]

Up to now I have purposely avoided this whole disorderly conduct arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. for a number of reasons. First reason being that compared to the other cases I’ve written about here and elsewhere, this is a very minor case of police misconduct. I have yet to read or hear any reports [...]

Here’s yet another example illustrating why the practice of SWAT style raids should be ended: robbers posing as cops. Here’s the news story from WRAL: width=330; height=280; wral_insert_video_player_5022704(width,height); This is the unedited surveillance video: width=330; height=280; wral_insert_video_player_5022045(width,height); As bad as this situation was, it could have ended much worse. It’s very fortunate that the armed [...]

Despite the objections of the National Tactical Officers Association, the bill championed by Berwyn Heights Mayor Cheye Calvo passed the Maryland House by a wide margin: Delegates adopted a bill, on a 126 to 9 vote, that would require law enforcement agencies to report every six months on their use of SWAT teams, including what [...]

The Cato Institute has a new video out telling the story behind Suzette Kelo’s legal fight against the City of New London, Connecticut and Pfizer, Inc, which resulted in one of the worst Supreme Court decisions in recent memory: You can also listen to Suzette Kelo tell her story in her own words. And, yes, [...]

The long and short of the case is that three days after his home was broken into, Fredrick fatally shot an intruder who turned out to be a police officer. Fredrick promptly surrendered to the police once he realized the intruders were in-fact a SWAT team serving a warrant (a very small amount of marijuana [...]