As I reflect upon the beginnings of my present political views, I believe that three specific events shaped my way of thinking. The first was my conversion to Christianity. The second was my introduction to ‘Reconstructionism’ and my subsequent move […]
Politics
Richard Nixon: A Precedent for Donald Trump?
It occurred to me that a possible precedent for Donald Trump might be none other than Richard Nixon. Now I think that Nixon was a far more intelligent man than Trump, and, for all his sins, a person of superior […]
Asset Forfeiture – Again
As a result of a conversation I recently had with an Assemblyman, I’ve decided to clarify my view on Asset Forfeiture. When a person is arrested on drug charges, or whatever other charges trigger these things, I don’t mind if […]
And a Third Legal System: the Laws of War
Andrew Rosenthal, in the New York Times here and here writes about the pressure to treat Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, [who I can’t resist calling ‘The Joker’] not as a criminal but as an ‘enemy combatant’, largely because that pesky Bill of Rights would […]
Mental Health and ‘Punishment’ versus ‘Treatment’
If you think about it, we also have two parallel prison systems, one under criminal law, the other under civil law. We worry a lot about ‘incarceration’ and the ‘mental health’ of prisoners. Yes we have too many people in […]
Asset Forfeiture
Many organizations, from Institute for Justice to Reason and Cato, have crusaded for the elimination or limiting of the practice of asset forfeiture. Property can be confiscated for crimes where one has not been found guilty. The reason is, as […]
The Parallel Structures of Criminal and Civil Law, and the Hole in the Bill of Rights
American criminal law, first on the federal level, and later, when the Supreme Court started to apply the Bill of Rights to the states in the 20th century [and at local level as well], has some restrictions on the government in […]
Dictator’s Ex-Wife Finds a New, Younger Love
Dictators ain’t what they used to be, if they can’t put a stop to this!
Trump and Sanders: Where You’ve Seen Them Before
The rise of Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders is kind of a shock to the American system. But a European would know exactly, in my opinion, where they fit in. Trump is not at all a conservative according to the […]
The Unbreakable Contradiction in Our View of Housing
Daniel Kay Hertz, a young urbanist from Chicago, [his website is https://danielkayhertz.com] has written the most succinct expression yet of why the whole issue of housing is a dilemma for Americans. It got a fair bit of notice, and was reproduced […]