In oral arguments for the gay marriage case Wolf v. Walker (mp3) on Tuesday, Judge Richard Posner took aim at Wisconsin’s Attorney General Timothy Samuelson right of the gate. Posner: “Why doesn’t Wisconsin permit joint adoption by same-sex couples?” Samuelson: “Uh, respectfully your honor, uh, that’s a question for the legislature, uh I don’t have a … Continued
How dangerous is it to be a cop? That depends on how many cops there are.
My inbox and Facebook comments are awash with angry protestations about my article on law enforcement fatalities and my follow up post on police assaults and injuries. This is a charged and complex issue, and there are many different ways of looking at it, so I anticipated this. Here are some notes about the methodology I used to study the … Continued
How dangerous is policing today? Is it getting worse, and does it justify the kinds of armaments local police forces are using? The Pentagon is giving cops half a billion dollars a year of military equipment, under the auspices of keeping them and us safe, so the answer really does matter. I’ve been criticized by defenders of police … Continued
Update: Here is a more recent version of this analysis, with a lot more data. I’ve been getting this question a lot since my article in The Freeman about officer fatalities was published. I’m hesitant to write about it because there are so many ways to misinterpret this kind of information that it might do more harm than good. Nonetheless, … Continued
An unarmed teen gets shot. A mayor bans a protest rally. Government crack down with military equipment and tactics. Protests turn into riots. News helicopters are prohibited. Journalists are arrested for filming. Cops tear gas news crews. Wow, at this screenshot from @fox2now of a cameraman in the tear gas. pic.twitter.com/cqT1JZjQwm — Andrew Kaczynski (@BuzzFeedAndrew) August … Continued
Opponents of marijuana legalization have never been shy about predicting consequences of biblical proportions should the drug become legal: pot will lead to rape; a scourge of crime will sweep the land; cartels will rise like Cthulhu and enslave us all; brains will be baked in America’s laboratories of democracy. After 7 months of totally legal pot … Continued
“It is more important that innocence be protected than it is that guilt be punished, for guilt and crimes are so frequent in this world that they cannot all be punished. But if innocence itself is brought to the bar and condemned, perhaps to die, then the citizen will say, “whether I do good or … Continued
