Two SCOTUS Cases Show How an Unaccountable Administrative State Hurts ‘Ordinary People’
People with little wealth or power frequently are forced to contend with overweening bureaucrats who invent their own authority. ...
About: Jacob Sullum
Posts by Jacob Sullum
Critics Fundamentally Misconstrue the Supreme Court’s Bump Stock Ruling
Critics of the Supreme Court's bump stock ruling say the court misinterpreted the Second Amendment, but it wasn't about the Second Amendment. ...
Donald Trump and Hunter Biden Face the Illogical Consequences of an Arbitrary Gun Law
An arbitrary federal law deprives Americans of their gun rights for reasons that have nothing to do with public safety. ...
The ‘Heart’ of Alvin Bragg’s Case Against Trump Is Misdirection
Manhattan D.A. Alvin Bragg's narrative in his case against Trump is nonsensical and irrelevant. ...
Journalism Is Not a Crime, Even When It Offends the Government
WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange has been imprisoned in London for five years, while Texas journalist Priscilla Villarreal was only briefly detained at the Webb County Jail. But both were...
Trump’s Abortion Stance Is Convenient, But That Does Not Mean He’s Wrong
“On abortion,” The New York Times claims, former President Donald Trump “chose politics over principles.” In reality, Trump’s recent clarification of his abortion position is one of those rare...
The Supreme Court Should Reject Clandestine Government Censorship of Online Speech
When federal officials persistently pressured social media platforms to delete or downgrade posts those officials did not like, a government lawyer told the Supreme Court on Monday, they were...
Expanding the Drug War to Include Tobacco Would Be a Big Mistake
Last month, New Zealand scrapped a law that would have gradually prohibited tobacco products by banning sales to anyone born after 2008. But Brookline, a wealthy Boston suburb, will...
Based on Loose Reasoning, a Federal Judge Upholds the Gun-Free School Zones Act
A federal law prohibits gun possession within 1,000 feet of an elementary or secondary school. That restriction, a federal judge in Montana noted last week, “covers almost the entirety...
California Made Carry Permits Easier to Obtain but Nearly Impossible to Use
California Gov. Gavin Newsom thinks the Constitution should be amended to accommodate the gun regulations he favors. But in the meantime, he is trying out a different strategy: If...
Former NIH Director Says Ignoring ‘Collateral Damage’ Inflicted by COVID-19 Policies Was ‘Really Unfortunate’
As federal officials considered how the government should respond to an emerging pandemic in 2020, Francis Collins recalled last year, “we weren’t really considering the consequences” of extreme measures...
Hunter Biden’s Multiplying Charges Exemplify a Profound Threat to Trial by Jury
Under a plea deal that fell apart last July, Hunter Biden would have spent no time behind bars after admitting to illegally buying a gun and willfully failing to...
Laws Requiring Permission to Obtain Guns Look Vulnerable
According to a landmark 2022 Supreme Court decision, the Second Amendment constrains the requirements that states may impose on residents who want to carry guns in public for self-defense....
Trump Gag Order Raises Unsettled Constitutional Questions
“I’ll be the only politician in history” who “won’t be allowed to criticize people,” former President Donald Trump complained last month. He was referring to the gag order issued...
The Supreme Court Should Not Let Bureaucrats Invent Crimes by Rewriting the Law
On Dec. 26, 2018, every American who owned a bump stock, a rifle accessory that facilitates rapid firing, was suddenly guilty of a federal felony punishable by up to...
Don’t Blame the Maine Shootings on ‘Woefully Weak’ Gun Laws
Five months before an Army Reserve sergeant killed 18 people at a bowling alley and a bar in Lewiston, Maine, his relatives told police he was increasingly paranoid, erroneously...
The Bipartisan Urge to Control Online Speech
According to the Biden administration, federal officials who urged social media companies to suppress “misinformation” about COVID-19 and other subjects were merely asking platforms like Facebook and Twitter to...
A Blatantly Unconstitutional Gun Edict Highlights the Hazards of Emergency Powers: New Mexico Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham Thinks Violent Crime Gives Her a License to Rule by Decree
Grisham's stunt was widely condemned as blatantly unconstitutional, even by some leading supporters of gun control. ...
A Ruling Against a Man Arrested for a COVID-19 Joke Highlights the Influence of a Pernicious Analogy
Back in March 2020, a dozen or so sheriff’s deputies wearing bulletproof vests descended upon Waylon Bailey’s home in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, with their guns drawn, ordered him onto...
A Ham-Handed Bill Attacks the First Amendment in the Name of Protecting Minors From Online Harm
Late last month, a Senate committee considered a 50-page bill with a name that includes the word “kids” and approved it unanimously. Those two facts alone are enough to...