California
Treasury Department Surveillance at the Southern Border Faces Fourth Amendment Challenges
A new FinCEN rule forced small money services businesses to collect personal data on nearly every customer transaction. Lawsuits claim this violates the Fourth Amendment.
Trump's Troops Return to a City That Moved On: Dispatch From Portland
Five years after the city’s fiery 2020 protests, Portland is mostly calm. That hasn’t stopped Trump from reviving old battles, fueled by false memories and made-for-TV outrage.
California Got This One Right: ICE Agents Shouldn't Be Allowed To Wear Masks
Masked agents are the unmistakable sign of a police state.
These 2 Terrible Tech Bills Are on Gavin Newsom's Desk
One limits children’s access to mental health services, the other mandates a black box warning, and both undermine users’ digital privacy.
Mountain Lions in Los Angeles Don't Need a $92 Million Government Project To Survive
There are cheaper solutions to help the not-endangered beasts get around.
In California, YIMBYs Pass Holy Grail Zoning Reform
Plus: San Francisco preliminarily passes citywide upzoning, a New Jersey town backs off family farm seizure, and YIMBY martial law ruled illegal in Hawaii.
California's Tech Regulations Could Strangle AI Innovation for the Whole Country
Federalism works best when state-level policy experiments stay contained.
Department of Veterans Affairs
In 16 Years, the V.A. Turned This $450 Million Hospital Project Into a $1.6 Billion Boondoggle
What began as a simple hospital project has become yet another example of bureaucratic failure at the Department of Veterans Affairs
How Weed Surveillance Drones Destroyed the Lives of These Californians
California tried to use drones to find illegal marijuana operations, but they found building code violations instead.
The New Texas Ban on Cell-Cultured Protein Is an Unconstitutional Interstate Trade Barrier, a Lawsuit Says
The ban's supporters, whose motivation is plainly protectionist, claim they are defending freedom by restricting it.
Gavin Newsom's Trolling of Donald Trump Is a Painful Reminder That Politics Can Always Get Dumber
Newsom hired a brass-knuckled social-media team to fight fire with fire, but the result is even more childish nonsense in politics.
When It Comes to Fighting Crime With the National Guard, Trump Says, He Can Do 'Anything I Want To Do'
The president's plan to promote public safety by deploying troops in cities across the country is hard to reconcile with constitutional constraints on federal authority.
Video Shows Immigration Officers Shooting at a San Bernardino Family's Car. DHS Calls It Justified.
CBP officers said they acted in self-defense when the driver fled the scene, but passengers believe video evidence shows they were the real victims.
Court Kills California's One-Gun-a-Month Law
There’s no historical precedent for trying to ration constitutionally protected rights.
San Francisco's All-Electric Ordinance Will Make Housing More Expensive
San Francisco’s new ordinance would impose all-electric building standards for new construction projects or buildings undergoing “major renovations.”
6 U.S. Travel Destinations in the Middle of Nowhere
From under the sea to the Rocky Mountains.
How Overregulation Burned Out Competition in the Fire Retardant Industry
Companies chose to exit the market rather than deal with the excessive regulations baked into the industry.
A First Amendment Lawsuit Highlights the Chilling Impact of Speech-Based Deportation on Student Journalists
The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression is seeking an injunction that would protect noncitizens at The Stanford Daily from arrest and removal because of their published work.
The 'Rigged' Jobs Data
Plus: AI reanimations of those who've died, Elizabeth Warren x Zohran Mamdani, and more...
Upholding a Vaccine Mandate, the 9th Circuit Embraces an Alarmingly Broad Definition of 'Public Health'
The appeals court held that the government may require COVID-19 shots based purely on the benefits to recipients.
Californians Can Now Buy Ammunition Online Just Like Free Americans
Golden State ammunition restrictions have been voided for violating the Second Amendment.
Michigan Wineries Win $50 Million in Fight Against Local Zoning Rules
A federal judge ruled that Peninsula Township’s former restrictions on music, events, and grape sourcing violated the rights of local wineries.
California Is Advancing a Bill To Punish Social Media Companies for Not Suppressing Speech
Senate Bill 771 would fine platforms up to $1 million if their algorithms relay hate speech to users.
Mark Graber on the History and Original Meaning of the Militia Act of 1903
Graber shows that the act used by Trump to federalize the California National Guard does not allow the president to take this step in response to low-level violence and disorder.
Sacramento Uses Smart Electric Meters To Spy on Residents
The city’s police consider “high” power consumption evidence of cannabis cultivation.
Feds Try To Bankrupt a Moving Company for Hiring Strong, Young Movers
Nobody complained about the company, so federal bureaucrats launched their own crusade.
Conservatives Shouldn't Oppose California's Potential Zoning Reforms
You have rights to your property, not to control others.
California's Minimum Wage Hike Cost 18,000 Fast-Food Jobs as Employment Ticked Up in Other States
The law transferred wealth from workers who lost their jobs to those who didn’t.
In Just 1 Year, 134 Lifeguards Cost Los Angeles Taxpayers $70 Million
The highest earner received a grand total of $523,351.
Blame California Politicians for the State's Sky-High Gasoline Prices
Taxes and regulations pinch supply and hike prices at the pump.
With Environmental Regulatory Reform, California Gov. Gavin Newsom Finally Does Something Substantial
Without Newsom's efforts, major reforms to California's stifling environmental laws would have died on the vine.
California Passes Important New YIMBY Housing Law
The new legislation exempts most new urban housing construction from the previously often stifling CEQA law. YIMBY ("yes in my backyard") advocates are cheering.
California Enacts Sweeping Exemption to Development-Killing Environmental Law
Plus: Real rent decreases in New York City, the return of missing middle housing in Virginia, and how everyone's a socialist on housing in New York.
How Texas Beat California on Housing
YIMBY policies in Texas have led to lower rents and increasing supply. The same cannot be said for California.
Immigration Raids Are Ensnaring Innocent, Legal Bystanders
That's inevitable. It should also be deeply troubling to anyone who cares about constitutional government.
Stealing the Farm
Plus: housing reform is killed in Connecticut, bonus ADUs are gutted in San Diego, and two decades of Supreme Court-enabled eminent domain abuse.
The 9th Circuit Says California's One-Per-Month Limit on Gun Purchases Is Unconstitutional
The appeals court concluded that the restriction impinges on the right to arms and is not consistent with the historical tradition of firearm regulation.
