Washington Times, January 20, 2015 No halo for Holder on forfeiture fix The top lawman who condemns seizures previously championed them By James Bovard Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. announced on Friday that the Justice Department would cease sharing confiscated private property with state and local police agencies under its Equitable Sharing program. Asset […]
Tag Archives | Constitution
Supreme Court Takes Raisin Robbery Property Rights Case
The Supreme Court accepted today a case in which California farmers challenge USDA’s right to confiscate their raisins. The Court’s decision is a defeat for the Justice Department, which argued that the Supremes should let stand a bizarre Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals decision that would have nullified a swath of the Fifth Amendment. I tub-thumped […]
Counterpunch: Obama’s Sordid Record on Censorship and Secrecy
Counterpunch, January 14, 2015 Blindfolding the Republic Obama’s Sordid Record on Censorship and Secrecy by JAMES BOVARD Republicans are condemning President Obama’s failure to attend the Charlie Hebdo march in Paris as if his omission was the equivalent of a hate crime. Rep. Randy Weber (R-Tx) took the cake with a bizarre tweet complaining that […]
FFF: Freedom Lost in Obama’s Secrecy-Censorship Crossfire
FUTURE OF FREEDOM FOUNDATION, September 2014 issue of Freedom Daily Freedom Lost in Obama’s Secrecy-Censorship Crossfire by James Bovard On June 2 the Supreme Court provided invaluable aid to the Obama administration’s campaign to protect Americans from evidence of federal abuses. The Court acceded to the administration’s appeal and refused to hear a free-speech case […]
Wash. Times: Obama’s Raisin Robbery
Washington Times, January 11, 2015 Obama’s raisin robbery The Supreme Court could end federal confiscation of farmers’ crops By James Bovard The Obama administration is once again championing Uncle Sam’s sacred right to seize farmers’ harvests. After being trounced on procedural grounds at the Supreme Court in 2013, the Justice Department wants the Supremes to […]
Torture and the New Definition of American Virtue
The Washington Post/ABC News poll earlier this week showed that most respondents approved of CIA torture and most opposed disclosing the Senate Intelligence Committee report on CIA abuses. Apparently, as long as the government denies its atrocities, Americans can still feel virtuous. And seeking the truth is giving aid & comfort the enemy… Another […]
Freeman: Government as Slaveowner (2000)
UPDATE: Here are some perhaps improved versions of a few lines in the following essay (thanks to Twitter space limits): Government worship tautology: because government has almost boundless power, it is presumably the source of all rights. *A good definition of liberty must provide a barricade that 10,000 federal agents cannot breach. *Tax burdens are […]