police

The issue of race relations in America has reached a new high pitch with the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis policeman, followed by mass peaceful demonstrations and instances of violence, looting, and arson in cities around the country.

The killing of George Floyd by Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin ignited nationwide protests. While we advise jurors to withhold judgment until presentation of all the evidence, video of the incident seems definitive.

An Institute for Justice report detailing forfeiture abuses, “Policing for Profit,” suggests that there is an inconsistency between proper policing and profit. 

Most people assume government police are tasked with stopping robbers, but a little-known legal fiction effectively allows the cops to become the robbers.

What does freedom mean? What is the purpose of government? And what should be the government’s relationship to each of us as individuals and as members of society as a whole? These issues recently came up during a dinner conversation with a new acquaintance with whom I’d not previously had such a discussion.

Under President Obama’s leadership, America has witnessed unusual, rather unexpected, serious clashes between citizens and authority. Tension between Blacks and the police has escalated, creating a racial divide most Americans believed had been healing. It seemed particularly odd that after the country had elected their first Black President, racial tensions would increase rather than decrease.

In today’s edition of The Heartland Daily Podcast, we listen in as research fellow Jesse Hathaway joins host Tom Zawistowski to talk about IRS civil forfeiture laws on Tea Party Talk.

Actor and director Mel Brooks once famously observed, “It’s good to be the king,” but it’s also very profitable to be the lawman.

Imagine police seize your money, your car, even your house. Imagine this happens without you being convicted of a crime or even charged with one. Imagine being told you must sue the government to get back your property and prove you did nothing wrong, and the government can do nothing – nothing – and still keep the property.

For millions of Americans the Second Amendment and its guarantee of the right of the individual to bear arms appears irrelevant and practically anachronistic. It seems a throwback to those earlier days of the Wild West, when many men, far from the law and order provided by the town sheriff and circuit judge, had to protect their families and land from cattle rustlers and outlaw bands. Such people are wrong.

“Not only should Mr. Gauger not have not been convicted, he should not have even been arrested – and we had him on death row.”

Contrary to media reports, the decline has been slightly greater in the suburbs than in the historical cores.

Last night’s episode of the CBS mystery The Mentalist, “Red Alert,” included some of the most explicitly pro-liberty, anti-government scenes you could ever hope to see. Rushing to a murder scene…