The Transportation Security Agency's latest plans to abuse passengers have attracted a lot of attention. People aren't pleased at having to choose between body-imaging that shows all their naughty bits or a pat-down that that feels an awful lot like a sexual assault. Maybe this time the outrage will lead to action, and someone will put a stop to this insulting behavior. Or … [Read more...] about Waiting For the TSA to Metastasize
Crushing Immigrants’ Dreams
I've been following Jack Marshall's Ethics Alarms blog for a few months now. He does a good job of discussing ethical issues in the news, but he also has some rather distasteful attitudes about immigration. In the past, I've been willing to give him the benefit of the doubt because his ethical opinion, however wrong-headed I believed it to be, conformed more or less to U.S. … [Read more...] about Crushing Immigrants’ Dreams
Why Does Anyone Think Cops Know What Should Be a Crime?
Why does anybody pay attention to what law enforcement employees think should be a crime? This is from Michele Leonhart's confirmation hearing as head of the DEA: "I'm a big fan of the DEA," said [Sen. Jeff Sessions of Alabama], before asking Leonhart point blank if she would fight medical marijuana legalization. "I have seen what marijuana use has done to young people, I … [Read more...] about Why Does Anyone Think Cops Know What Should Be a Crime?
Your Secrets Are Safe This Time
Jeff Gamso has a terrific post on why we shouldn't believe the TSA when they claim that their full-nude body scans of passengers are completely secure and won't be abused or disclosed. I have my own argument that I've used to respond to similar claims about government handling of our sensitive personal information. It goes something like this: At the height of the cold war, the … [Read more...] about Your Secrets Are Safe This Time
Sailing the Waters Of Civil Forfeiture
I've been writing about the un-American and totalitarian horror of civil forfeiture laws for a while, and I've been following the issue on and off for two decades, so the latest bit of outrage to make the rounds isn't really a surprise: On Monday, the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency, the Missouri Highway Patrol and the U.S. Attorney's Office filed a joint complaint in the Eastern … [Read more...] about Sailing the Waters Of Civil Forfeiture