U.S. Attorney General Jeff Sessions seeks a “new directive on asset forfeiture” and plans new policies to “increase forfeitures.” The target is supposedly big-time criminal organizations but all citizens have good cause to be wary. As U.S. Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas notes, the issue is “whether modern civil-forfeiture statutes can be squared with…
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“Haven’t Crime Victims Paid Enough?” runs the headline on a color half-page newspaper ad from the California Victim Compensation Board. A terrified woman appears to be agreeing with the headline. The ad explains that “financial resources are available,” and “We cover: mental health treatment, medical expenses, funeral and burial, income loss, relocation expenses.” No…
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February 28 marked 20 years since bank robbers Larry Phillips and Emil Matasareanu engaged in a full-blown firefight with police outside the Bank of America on Laurel Canyon Boulevard in North Hollywood. Both deployed fully automatic rifles illegal to possess at the time. They sprayed anything that moved, firing even at television news helicopters….
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The southern part of California’s capital city of Sacramento is home to many Asian immigrants, and during the past year, according to news reports, violent criminals have been preying on innocent residents. Muggings, robberies and home invasions have victimized 300-400 Chinese immigrants and prompted some to sell their home at a loss and move…
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If taxpayers have any doubt that government is becoming ever more intrusive, they might check out how California is attempting to redefine consensual sex. This legislative attempt is based on the notion that there is some part of the word “No!” that college students, allegedly the best and brightest, fail to understand. Driving the…
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Traditional public policy and welfare economics have held that “market failures”—the presumed inability of a free market to deliver certain goods and services deemed to be in the public interest—are common and require government intervention to protect the public good. But is this actually the case? The Independent Institute book, Beyond Politics, by Senior…
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