Scott Greenfield points out that if the police ask to search your car and you consent, the courts have ruled that you are consenting to let the police take your car apart. Here's the language he quotes from United States v. Garcia: The search here was reasonable. When the officers requested permission to search the truck after asking Garcia whether he was carrying "anything … [Read more...] about Another Reason Not To Consent To Searches
Happy 4/20 But Keep It Away From Me
So, it's 4/20, which is apparently some sort of big day for pot smokers. I don't know why, but pot smokers have glommed onto the number 420 or 4:20 or 4/20 as somehow being tied to pot. I'm sure it makes sense if you're stoned. Anyway, I think I've established my libertarian credentials well enough that I can now afford to make a libertarian confession: I hate marijuana. When I … [Read more...] about Happy 4/20 But Keep It Away From Me
A Warning From a Violent Man
Radley Balko points out that former president Bill Clinton has an ugly editorial in the New York Times. It's the anniversary of the bombing of the Murrah building in Oklahoma City, which killed 168 people. Clinton goes through the motions of mourning their deaths, but then he moves on to casting blame: Finally, we should never forget what drove the bombers, and how they … [Read more...] about A Warning From a Violent Man
Kill Them Because It’s Easier?
From Bill Otis at the slightly disturbing Crime & Consequences blog, here's a pro-death penalty argument that I just can't get enough of: Recently I noted that prison security -- or, more precisely, the inevitable fallibility thereof -- puts the lie to abolitionist claims that LWOP will keep us as safe as the death penalty. In-prison murder, … [Read more...] about Kill Them Because It’s Easier?
If Not Now, When?
It looks like filling the next Supreme Court vacancy is yet another area in which I disagree with the Obama administration. CBS News's Jan Crawford says Obama wants "a sparkling intellectual who could go toe to toe with Roberts and Antonin Scalia," but I'd much rather have Scott Greenfield. … [Read more...] about If Not Now, When?