Civil Liberties & Privacy

Subverting Freedom through Benevolence

by James Bovard May 1, 1996

President Bill Clinton declared on July 26, 1994: "The Americans with Disabilities Act is a national monument to freedom. Contained within its broad pillars of independence, inclusion, and empowerment is the core ideal of equality that has defined this country since its beginnings." In reality, the ADA has become a symbol of the confused, paternalistic, interventionist concept of modern freedom ...

Did the Supreme Court Flush the Fourth?

by James Bovard February 1, 1996

Two hundred and six years after the adoption of the Bill of Rights, the big issue for the U.S. Supreme Court is toilets. Specifically, has the invention of flush toilets nullified American's traditional right of privacy in their homes and enabled police to smash down their doors on the slightest pretext? Truly, these are glorious times in which we live. ...

The White Rose: A Lesson in Dissent

by Jacob G. Hornberger January 1, 1996

The date was February 22, 1943. Hans Scholl and his sister Sophie, along with their best friend, Christoph Probst, were scheduled to be executed by Nazi officials that afternoon. The prison guards were so impressed with the calm and bravery of the prisoners in the face of impending death that ...

Vigilant Distrust, Part 2

by John C. Sparks January 1, 1996

Part 1 | Part 2 As years passed, it was customary for communities in the new land of America to set up local governments. Since the attraction of political power is a highly contagious disease anywhere, there were numerous instances of the political misuse of power. It is an axiom that politicians are always with us-and ready, willing, and ...

The White Rose

by Hans and Sophia Scholl January 1, 1996

Nothing is so unworthy of a civilized nation as allowing itself to be "governed" without opposition by an irresponsible clique that has yielded to base instinct. It is certain that today every honest German is ashamed of his government. Who among us has any conception of the dimensions of shame that will befall us and our children when one ...

Trial by Jury

by Jacob G. Hornberger December 1, 1995

After a nine-month trial, the jury found O.J. Simpson not guilty of the murders of Nicole Brown Simpson and Ronald Goldman. There was anger and outrage among most white Americans. The evidence clearly seemed to point to the defendant's guilt. The feeling was that a jury composed largely of black Americans acquitted Simpson simply due to his race. Amidst all ...

Practicing the Principle of Freedom — At Home and Abroad

by Richard M. Ebeling December 1, 1995

As an advocate of individual freedom, I consider all forms of government interference in people's lives, other than those minimally essential for the protection of life, liberty, and property, to be morally wrong, politically harmful, and economically counterproductive. As part of that political philosophy, I believe that the government ...

Individual Rights or Civil Rights?

by Sheldon Richman December 1, 1995

Civil rights and affirmative action are getting their closest reexamination in years. Unfortunately, the reexamination is not close enough. With scant exception, no one is willing to go to the core of the issue and condemn the entire rotten regime for what it is — massive violation of individual rights. The way civil rights are defined today confronts us ...

The Magic Bullet That Stops Tyranny in Its Tracks

by Don Doig December 1, 1995

Governments at all levels are raging out of control, trampling the rights of the people, escalating the attack on the Bill of Rights seemingly without any recourse available to the people. Until recently, it has not been widely appreciated that for the last hundred years, we have been ...

An Essay on the Trial by Jury

by Lysander Spooner December 1, 1995

For more than six hundred years — that is, since Magna Carta, in 1215, — there has been no clearer principle of English or American constitutional law, than that, in criminal cases, it is not only the right and duty of juries to judge what are the facts, what is the law, and what was the moral intent of ...

Vigilant Distrust, Part 1

by John C. Sparks December 1, 1995

Part 1 | Part 2 Free enterprise. Familiar words for this class. Enterprise is an undertaking marked by its difficulty, requiring action that is bold, energetic, and venturesome in order to accomplish it. I need not remind you that "free" as in free enterprise does not mean something without cost. Instead "free" means that the person undertaking the task ...

Loving Your Country and Hating Your Government

by Jacob G. Hornberger October 1, 1995

Several months ago, President Clinton condemned Americans who exposed and criticized wrongdoing by the U.S. government. The president said: "There's nothing patriotic about hating your government or pretending you can hate your government but love your country." Let us examine the implications of the president's claim. In the 1930s and throughout World War II, ...