Civil Liberties & Privacy

If Only Freedom Had a Price

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 2001

IF ONLY FREEDOM HAD A PRICE, we would know what each individual thought it was worth. Each individual could express his own valuation and judgment of what he would pay to maintain or increase his freedom and what he would have to receive in exchange to give up some or all ...

Self-Inflicted Violence

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 2001

IN OUR RUSH justice for the perpetrators of the horrors of September 11, we seem to have forgotten another kind of violence that is ready to befall America: the self-inflicted violence of an open-ended, comprehensive, and essentially secret global war conducted by the U.S. government against an enemy so amorphous it apparently cannot be ...

The Wolf, the Coyote, and the Sheep

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 27, 2001

Americans who are rushing to embrace the federal government's efforts to protect them from terrorists might want to keep in mind the story of the wolf, the coyote, and the sheep. One day the wolf and the coyote got into a battle with each other. In the midst of the fight, the coyote attacked the ...

Emergencies, Military Tribunals, and the Constitution

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 20, 2001

President Bush has ordered that people he suspects of being "terrorists" will be tried before military tribunals rather than indicted and prosecuted in the customary judicial manner. Judges and juries (which will consist of the same people) will be appointed by the secretary of defense, trials will be held in secret, and convictions will ...

The War on Drugs and Police Funding

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 7, 2001

The following was published as a Capsule Commentary in the November 7, 2001 edition of the FFF Email Update. The October 14 issue of the Washington Post reported that Washington area police and sheriffs' departments garnered a bonanza of nearly $2.2 million last year from the war on drug's asset-forfeiture ...

A Republic, If You Can Keep It

by Jacob G. Hornberger November 1, 2001

AT THE CLOSE OF THE CONSTITUTIONAL CONVENTION, a woman asked Benjamin Franklin what type of government the Constitution was bringing into existence. Franklin replied, “A republic, if you can keep it.” Regardless of one’s judgment concerning the type of government that the Constitution brought into existence in 1787, no one can deny that it was truly the most unusual and ...

Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century: Freedom to Move

by Richard M. Ebeling November 1, 2001

FORTY YEARS AGO — August 10, 1961 — Nikita S. Khrushchev, the premier of the Soviet Union, attended a birthday party in Moscow for Sergei S. Verentsov, the Soviet marshal in charge of the missile program of the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. Khrushchev informed the celebrating assembly of leading Soviet ...

Ruby Ridge: The Coverup Continues

by James Bovard November 1, 2001

THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUBY RIDGE CASE during the past year further illustrate why this is a landmark case defining how much deadly, arbitrary power federal agents shall possess over private citizens. The Ruby Ridge case involved the entrapment of Randy Weaver on firearms charges by an informant for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF), false ATF reports ...

A Time for Calm Reflection and Adherence to Law

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 15, 2001

The Founders of our nation understood two principles: first, that the greatest threat to the freedom and well-being of the citizenry lies not with some foreign enemy but rather with one’s own government, and, second, that this threat is greatest during times of crisis. That is why our ancestors refused to institute a government of ...

Preserving Property through Freedom

by Jacob G. Hornberger September 1, 2001

THE WASHINGTON TIMES recently reported on a controversy in Winchester, Virginia, that holds important lessons on freedom, property, and the role of government in the lives of the citizenry. The issue involves the use of 70 acres of property on which occurred the single largest cavalry charge of the Civil War. The owner of the property, a Virginia corporation, has ...

Classical Liberalism in the 21st Century: War and Peace

by Richard M. Ebeling September 1, 2001

THE HISTORY OF MANKIND is a history of war, conquest, and oppression. From ancient times to the modern era, peace and freedom have been rare occurrences in the sweep of human events. When peace has prevailed for extended periods of time, it has invariably occurred under the yoke of despotic ...

Senate Farce: Reining in the FBI

by James Bovard September 1, 2001

THE FOUNDING FATHERS did not create a national police force. Since Prohibition, however, federal law enforcement agencies have multiplied like mushrooms. Unfortunately, there has been no parallel growth in either curiosity or competence by the legislative branch. Charles Carroll of Maryland, one of the signers of the Declaration of Independence, declared that it was the task of elected representatives “to ...