Brickbat: Keep It Trimmed
Burhan Chowdhury, 72, was trying to explain that the treatment for his lymphoma has left him too weak to do yard work. But Hamtramck, Michigan, Judge Alexis Krot, wasn’t having …
Courts
You Can’t Solve Homelessness by Making It a Crime
A man’s car is his castle. So declared the Washington Supreme Court, more or less, when it ruled last August that the city of Seattle could not impound a homeless …
What Progressives Get Wrong About Judicial Review
In February 1958, a distinguished liberal jurist named Learned Hand told a distinguished liberal audience something that it did not want to hear. The U.S. Supreme Court’s celebrated power of …
Her Husband Died After Police Hogtied Him for 90 Minutes. Could She Ever Hold Them Accountable?
In 2015, Troy Goode arrived in Southaven, Mississippi, for a Widespread Panic concert. His experience there was brief. It would end with him dying after local police arrived, hogtied him, …
Hawaii Bill Would Create a State Process to End Qualified Immunity
HONOLULU, Hawaii (Dec. 22, 2021) – During the 2022 legislative session, the Hawaii House and Senate will consider bills that would create a process to sue police officers in state …
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos Rejected a Plea Deal. So He Got 110 Years in Prison.
Rogel Aguilera-Mederos’ recent sentencing sparked significant backlash. The Colorado man received 110 years behind bars after his truck brakes failed, causing a traffic accident that killed four people in April …
Ohio Prosecuted a Taxidermist for Asking an Inspector to Come Back Later
When law enforcement officers tell you they’re certain that everybody is a lawbreaker, they inadvertently summarize a good reason why we place restrictions on searches for evidence of legal infractions. …
How Did Ahmaud Arbery’s 3 Assailants End Up With 12 Murder Convictions?
There were a lot of guilty verdicts read out last week at the close of the Ahmaud Arbery trial, something that likely came as a shock to very few people. …
The First Amendment Protects Everyone, Even Facebook and Twitter
The last few years have seen a flurry of efforts from both right and left to regulate how social media platforms police their users. These laws and proposed laws have …
Don’t Punish the QAnon Shaman—or Anyone—for Demanding a Jury Trial
Jacob Chansley, the “QAnon Shaman” whose face became fodder for front-page news spreads when he broke into the U.S. Capitol on January 6 while wearing patriotic face-paint and a horned …
