By Ilya Shapiro
On May 11, the Department of Health & Human Services finalized rules requiring insurers to tell any of their customers who get premium rebates this summer that the windfall comes …
Obamacare’s Constitutional Defects, First Amendment Division is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
Prosecution for exercising one’s free speech rights is becoming a trend in the current Administration and the Department of Justice (DOJ). Earlier this month, the Legal Center highlighted the DOJ’s outrageous prosecution of Mary Susan Pine, a pro-life advocate. Thankfully, when the rubber hit the road, the DOJ lawyers had nowhere to go, and the suit was dropped. Pine is able to continue her ministry of standing near an abortion clinic to talk to women about abortion. Julian P. Heicklen, an 80-year-old retired chemistry professor and advocate of jury nullification, … More
By Tim Lynch
Yesterday, Federal Judge Kimba Wood dismissed the jury “tampering” indictment against a peaceful jury nullification advocate. Julian Heicklen, an 80-year-old retired chemistry professor, had been indicted for standing outside a Manhattan federal courthouse handing out pamphlets explaining the legal theory that jurors who disagree with a law may acquit a defendant accused of violating that law. Whew! [...]
Case Dismissed! is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Marian L. Tupy
I had to read this story twice and I still cannot quite bring myself to believe it. Apparently, a British judge sentenced a 21 year old biology student to 56 days in jail for making fun of a tragic near-death experience of a soccer player. As Fabrice Muamba, a Bolton Wanderers midfielder, collapsed in mid-play [...]
British Student Jailed over a Tweet is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Tim Lynch
Federal prosecutors told a federal judge that they’re prosecuting an elderly man because his actions constitute a “ significant threat” to the legal system. Guess what he did? (a) He smuggled stolen FBI documents to a suspected Al-qaeda prisoner in the NY jail. (b) He attended court hearings and made belligerent outbursts. (c) He wrote nasty letters to prosecutors and judges [...]
Feds Spin Yarn About ‘Significant Threat’ is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
A dozen U.S. senators sent a stern warning to the Internal Revenue Service yesterday: Don’t let politics play a role in recent inquiries of Tea Party organizations. In the past few months, the IRS sent detailed questionnaires to organizations in Kentucky, Ohio, Tennessee and Texas asking about their political activities. Many of those groups have applied for tax-exempt status under Section 501(c)(4) of the tax code. The IRS inquiry comes amid attacks on Tea Party groups from liberals, including seven Democrats who wrote to the IRS last week. “We urge the … More
By Ilya Shapiro
Cato legal associate Carl DeNigris co-authored this blogpost. Over the last few decades, the number of federal crimes has exploded. The U.S. criminal code has grown so large and so expansive that no one is exactly sure how many federal crimes are actually on the books, with estimates ranging from 4,000 to 300,000. As Justice [...]
Not Everything Can Be a Federal Crime is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Ilya Shapiro
The Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act prohibits general solicitation and advertising by anyone offering unregistered securities, ostensibly for the purpose of furthering state and federal disclosure schemes. Yet this ban on public communications has been applied so broadly that it has undermined those purported disclosure goals. For instance, the ban has prevented individuals who have no [...]
Why Is Massachusetts Trying to Ban Truthful Information About Hedge Funds? is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
By Tim Lynch
This month’s Wisconsin Lawyer has an article entitled “Nullification: A Jury’s ‘Secret’ Power,” by Erik R. Guenther. Here is an excerpt: When “[t]he purpose of a jury is to guard against the exercise of arbitrary power – to make available the commonsense judgment of the community as a hedge against the overzealous or mistaken prosecutor and [...]
A Jury’s ‘Secret’ Power is a post from Cato @ Liberty – Cato Institute Blog
The Syrian government’s sickening attacks on its own people continues unabated. Syrian government troops are pushing into the city of Daraa, where resistance is currently concentrated, near the Jordanian border south of Damascus. This follows equally brutal sieges on the rebellious cities of Homs and Hama, which the Assad regime is determined to beat into submission. When the United Nations is talking about crimes against humanity and the Arab League is demanding that Assad leave the presidency, it is clear that the situation on the ground is awful. Freedom of … More
