Civil Liberties & Privacy

Warning: Obesity (and Lying about It) Could be Hazardous to Your Health

by Jacob G. Hornberger March 15, 2004

Lest anyone have any doubts that our federal daddy is carefully watching over his adult-children, the Food and Drug Administration has formally announced a campaign against obesity among Americans. You remember the FDA, right? That’s the federal bureaucratic agency that wrongfully leaked the information that ultimately led to the conviction of ...

Trampling Aliens in the Name of Anti-Terrorism

by James Bovard March 1, 2004

Americans are still learning the details of some of the abuses that were committed against those rounded up as suspected terrorists after 9/11. The Justice Department inspector general issued superb reports in June and December 2003 detailing violation of rights, denial of due process, and, in some cases, physical brutality. Perhaps the best way to capture the flavor of the ...

A Culture of Subservience

by Scott McPherson March 1, 2004

In a December 2 op-ed in the Washington Times, “Building a Culture of Service,” John M. Bridgeland, president and director of USA Freedom Corps, wrote, “President Bush sought to foster a culture of service, citizenship, and responsibility” following the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, and, to that end, created the ...

Freedom v. The Pentagon in the U.S. Supreme Court

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 27, 2004

Last week, a federal judge in Virginia, Leonie M. Brinkema (the same judge presiding in the Zacarias Moussaoui case) acquitted a man whom the feds were prosecuting for terrorism. The judge dismissed the case after the feds had presented all of their evidence in a court of a law ...

Eisenhower Was Right

by Jacob G. Hornberger February 16, 2004

A small article on page A12 of the January 29 issue of the New York Times is revealing with respect to the extent of the power of the military-industrial complex in American life. The article reports that the Army’s chief of staff, Gen. Peter Schoomaker, told the House Armed Services Committee ...

Need a Ride? Try Freedom and the Free Market

by Scott McPherson January 30, 2004

The promulgators of government control are no longer content to fabricate rights to such things as education, health care, and a smoke-free workplace. Now they’re even demanding that people have a right to a taxicab. In the process, they’re also deflecting attention away from the negative consequences of ...

Bush Legacy: Less Freedom

by Sheldon Richman January 28, 2004

If anyone still looks to the Republican party of President George W. Bush for limits on government power, it’s long past time to look elsewhere. They certainly won’t be found among the Democrats either. But this is no reason for Pollyannaish rhapsodies about the Republicans, who are more offensive ...

A Successful War Is Being Waged on the Bill of Rights

by Don Cooper January 14, 2004

Two years after launching of the War on Terrorism and the invasion and occupation of Iraq, the most successful war being waged by the United States seems to be against the U.S. Constitution, not terrorists. Although the war in Afghanistan removed the Taliban from power and damaged Osama bin Ladens al-Qaida ...

Insanity Defense Has No Place in a Free Society

by Sheldon Richman January 5, 2004

John W. Hinckley Jr., who in 1982 was acquitted by reason of insanity in his attempt to assassinate President Ronald Reagan, has been granted court permission to have unsupervised visits with his parents. Hinckley has been held in St. Elizabeth’s Mental Hospital in Washington, D.C., for more than ...

Judicial Blows against Military Tyranny

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 19, 2003

Two U.S. courts of appeal have dealt severe blows to the Pentagon’s contempt for the U.S. Constitution and its assumption of dictatorial powers as part of its so-called war on terrorism. The Second Circuit Court of Appeals has ordered military officials either to release accused terrorist Jose Padilla, whom the ...

Freedom without Due Process of Law?

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 3, 2003

No American should be too enthusiastic about the Pentagon’s decision to permit accused terrorist Yaser Hamdi to speak to an attorney after some two years of incarceration in a military brig here in the United States. While some people might be tempted to be grateful to the Pentagon for ...

Animal Rights Absurdity

by Scott McPherson October 22, 2003

The “animal rights” group People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) sued fast-food-chain KFC last summer for allegedly misreporting the way it treats its chickens. PETA’s legal argument was that KFC was misleading the public, a valid complaint if true. But PETA’s broader objectives are not so sound. According ...