Before the American Revolution, British soldiers entered the homes of colonists at will, searching any person or place they wanted and often motivated by nothing more than political animosity. Resentment of this practice was a significant cause of…
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Category Archives: Criminal Justice
Making Laws Work
I recently received a letter from a long-time supporter of the ICLU, gently chiding me for -as he saw it -taking cases to "embarrass" authorities rather than "to improve general civil liberties". For example, he said, I doubt there would be an ICLU investigation if a policeman stopped you for speeding, but let you go with only a..
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When Perception Matters
News media throughout the state have reported on the fallout from an August 27th incident in Indianapolis involving a rowdy group of off-duty police officers. Seventeen officers were accused of getting drunk at a party in Mayor Goldsmith’s suite at Victory Field, the City’s new ballpark. According to the reports of nearly…
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Who Do We Curfew?
Among the current high-profile assaults on crime and social disorder is a renewed enthusiasm for curfews to keep young people off the streets at night.
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Paying the Piper
With the political season entering overdrive, all the candidates are promising to cut taxes, restore morality and make us safer. It is unclear how we will fund both the tax cuts and the public safety proposals, which come with high price tags — more government programs, more police, more laws, more emphasis by government on It…
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