Free Republic

You have no right to remain silent. Anything you say may be used against you in a court of law. Then again, it may not be, because you may never get a trial. You have no right to speak with an attorney, but we're going to let you have one anyway. We're not sure why, since you have no right to any sort of procedure for determining whether or how long you should be imprisoned. That, in essence, is what the Bush administration has told Yaser Esam Hamdi, a U.S. citizen captured in Afghanistan two years ago who is being...

December 2003 Carry On Concealed weapon laws Jacob Sullum The number of states that allow law-abiding citizens to carry concealed firearms hit 36 in September, up from 10 in 1986. The three-dozen mark was reached after Missouri’s legislature voted to override Gov. Bob Holden’s veto of a right-to-carry bill. Missouri’s old law gave county sheriffs the discretion to deny a permit to any applicant they believed was "a danger to himself or others." Under the new law, which took effect in October, residents who are at least 23 years old and who take an eight-hour gun safety course can obtain...

This is what the Bush administration has reduced me to: The other day, I was rooting for a Ted Kennedy filibuster. Of course, the Massachusetts senator and I had different reasons for opposing the Medicare bill championed by President Bush and Republican leaders. Kennedy claimed the bill "cynically uses the elderly's need for prescription drugs as a Trojan horse to reshape Medicare," calling it "a calculated program to unravel Medicare, to privatize it and to force seniors into the cold arms of HMOs." I wish the Republicans were that smart. If the Prescription Drug and Medicare Improvement Act of 2003...

W Is for What? Bush may be compassionate, but he's no conservative. Jacob Sullum Columnist Ted Rall calls George W. Bush "a right-wing extremist whose agenda makes Barry Goldwater look tame by comparison." If only it were so. </p) Looking at the president's record during the last three years, one is hard-pressed to see any affinity between his agenda and that of conservatives who respect the Constitution and believe in limited government. In particular, Bush repeatedly has forsaken the conservative principles of fiscal restraint, free trade, and federalism. According to the latest figures from congressional budget committees, federal discretionary...

During a cross-country drive in July 1989, my car broke down in the Arizona desert sometime around noon. My cat, Miles, who had long, black fur, was not pleased. I managed to find a phone and call a tow truck, and during the long, slow, non-air-conditioned ride to the nearest service station, with Miles panting at my side, I had plenty of time to take in the scenery: row after row of cotton. Since cotton is a water-intensive crop, the middle of a desert seemed a strange place to grow it. Similar oddities can be observed in other arid areas...

On the same day The New York Times reported that the Senate had approved a federal ban on "partial birth" abortions, the paper carried a full-page ad in support of the federal ban on "assault weapons." The coincidence was striking because the two bans are similar in several conspicuous ways. To begin with, both are based on distinctions that dissolve upon close examination. "Partial birth" abortion is said to be especially immoral, but it isn't. "Assault weapons" are said be especially dangerous, but they aren't. "Partial birth" abortions, a method that doctors call "dilation and extraction" (D&X), are performed in...

Rush Limbaugh may not be arrested, let alone spend time behind bars, for illegally buying narcotic painkillers. "We're not sure whether he will be charged," a law enforcement source told CNN earlier this month. "We're going after the big fish, both the suppliers and the sellers." If the conservative radio commentator escapes serious legal consequences, there will be speculation about whether a pill popper who wasn't a wealthy celebrity would have received such lenient treatment. Yet the distinction between dealer and user drawn by CNN's source is both widely accepted and deeply imbedded in our drug laws. That doesn't mean...

<p>In November 1988, the New England Journal of Medicine published a study that noted Seattle's homicide rate was higher than Vancouver's and attributed the difference to stricter gun control in Vancouver. Although the study had serious flaws, including the failure to take into account important demographic differences between the two cities, it received generous coverage in two major newspapers known for their sympathy to gun control.</p>

In November 1988, The New England Journal of Medicine published a study that noted Seattle's homicide rate was higher than Vancouver's and attributed the difference to stricter gun control in Vancouver. Although the study had serious flaws, including the failure to take into account important demographic differences between the two cities, it received generous coverage in two major newspapers known for their sympathy to gun control. The Washington Post covered the report in a 600-word, staff-written story on page A4 under the headline "Impact of Gun Control Indicated in Medical Study." The New York Times story ("Gun Curbs Linked to...

When Rep. Ronald Coleman changed his mind and decided to support the so-called assault weapon ban approved by the House last spring, the Texas Democrat said he wanted to "make it harder for drug thugs and gangs to get the machine guns that wantonly kill our police officers and children." Coleman was wrong to think that the legislation he was about to vote for had anything to do with machine guns, but let's pass over that point for now. His remark is interesting for another reason: It concisely expresses and draws upon the symbolic power of both firearms and mind-altering...

<p>According to John Ashcroft, all the complaints regarding Section 215 of the U.S.A. Patriot Act are much ado about nothing. Literally.</p> <p>In a recent memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller, the attorney general said he had decided to correct misconceptions about Section 215, which authorizes the FBI to demand "any tangible thing" upon certifying to a secret court that it's relevant to a terrorism investigation. "The number of times Section 215 has been used to date is zero," Mr. Ashcroft said.</p>

Zero Reassurance According to Attorney General John Ashcroft, all the complaints regarding Section 215 of the USA PATRIOT Act are much ado about nothing. Literally. In a recent memo to FBI Director Robert Mueller, the attorney general said he had decided to correct misconceptions about Section 215, which authorizes the FBI to demand "any tangible thing" upon certifying to a secret court that it's relevant to a terrorism investigation. "The number of times Section 215 has been used to date is zero," Ashcroft said. Well, doesn't everyone who worried about the privacy implications of Section 215 look silly now? Sure,...