Want Less Corruption? Try Having Smaller Government.
People can never be made incorruptible. We can, however, design governmental systems filled with checks and balances that limit the temptations.
Corruption
Oregon's Whiskey Ring Shows Perils of State Liquor Control
Top government officials reportedly kept rare bourbons for themselves and other powerful insiders.
New Israeli Government's Judicial Reforms are not Anti-Democratic—But they May Create a Tyranny of the Majority
By destroying judicial review, they would empower the narrow right-wing majority to violate the rights of minorities.
Don't Let the House Hunter Biden Investigation Become a Russiagate-Style Search for Election Excuses
Plus: Lab-grown meat, the allure of raw milk, and more...
Curfews and Restrictions: Peru's Regime Cracks Down
Twenty-five people have died this month amid nationwide protests.
Absolute Immunity Puts Prosecutors Above the Law
By giving powerful law enforcement officials absolute immunity from civil liability, the Supreme Court leaves their victims with no recourse.
Los Angeles Sheriff's Department
L.A. Sheriff Who Fought Against Oversight and Transparency Concedes Election Defeat
Alex Villanueva was ousted after a single combative, troubled term. Voters also approved giving county leaders the power to remove future sheriffs.
Houston Prosecutors Are Keeping Cash Seized From Defendants Whose Cases Were Compromised by Police Corruption
Even in cases that hinged on the trustworthiness of demonstrably untrustworthy cops, people are still waiting to get their money back.
Woman Can Sue Alabama Cops for Towing Car as Part of Town's Profiteering Scheme
A federal judge denied qualified immunity for officers accused of making up charges to get money from fines.
L.A.'s Leaked City Council Tape Reminds Us Why 'Smoke-Filled Rooms' Are Bad
A lack of transparency doesn't make politicians better people.
Chicago's Red Light Cameras Keep Fueling Corruption Scandals
A state senator joins several local officials in federal indictments for taking bribes in exchange for contracts.
LAPD Officer Killed During Training Exercise Was Reportedly Investigating Cops Accused of Gang Rape
Plus: The Onion weighs in on qualified immunity case, Supreme Court rejects challenges to bump stock ban, and more...
Bill Introduced To Bring Independent Oversight to Federal Prison System
The Federal Prison Oversight Act would create an independent ombudsman to investigate complaints about the Bureau of Prisons, something prison advocacy groups have long called for.
Las Vegas Elected Official Robert Telles Arrested as Suspect in Journalist Jeff German's Death
Plus: The wage premium from having a college degree is falling, study finds black access to firearms reduced lynchings during Jim Crow, and more...
A Cop Rear-Ended a Car, Sending a Toddler to the Hospital. The Car's Driver Was Breathalyzed. The Cop Wasn't.
Plus: Twitter whistleblower reports, court says FDA must reconsider vaping products, and more...
Former Puerto Rico Governor Latest Official Arrested in DOJ Corruption Crackdown
Wanda Vázquez, the latest in a string of Puerto Rican officials to face criminal corruption charges, is accused of bribery and mail fraud charges during her failed 2020 reelection campaign.
The Mar-a-Lago Raid Starts Another Cycle in a Partisan Feedback Loop
Plus: Americans want more political options, public pensions suffer major losses, and more...
FBI Raids Mar-a-Lago, Fueling Claims of Political Persecution
Plus: Anti-piracy ads made people want to pirate, new IRS agents could fill a football stadium, and more...
Prosecutors Who Want Credit for Investigating Police Corruption Are Happy To Steal Money From Innocent People
The Harris County, Texas, District Attorney's Office oversees civil forfeitures that make a mockery of justice.
Biden's New Bureau of Prisons Director Won't be Able To Run Away From the Agency's Corruption
The federal prison system is plagued by corruption and civil rights abuses.
This Alabama Town's Shakedowns Are So Egregious That the Justice Department Is Backing a Suit Against It
Brookside faces several federal challenges for trying to fund its city by ticketing and towing the cars of anybody they can get away with.
A Houston Drug Cop's Lies Sent This Man to Prison for 25 Years
The case shows how lax supervisors, incurious prosecutors, deferential judges, credulous jurors, and inattentive defense attorneys abet police misconduct.
If Ukraine Wants To Stand for Liberty and Democracy, It Should Rethink Some of Its Wartime Policies
We can condemn the actions of Moscow without forfeiting the right to point out missteps in Kyiv.
California's Competitors
Miami and Austin lured people away from California. But the new tech hubs could end up repeating San Francisco’s mistakes.
50 Years Later, the Motive Behind Watergate Remains Clouded
Despite the abundance of transcripts, FBI reports, and memoirs from those involved, we still know more about the cover-up than we do about the infamous political scandal.
Bitcoin: A Weapon for Peace in the Israel-Palestine Conflict
Activist Fadi Elsalameen says U.S. aid doesn’t help Palestinians because of corruption. They need monetary freedom.
11 Insanely Corrupt Speed-Trap Towns
Caught stealing from motorists, these towns disbanded their police forces or even disbanded their governments altogether.
The Department of Homeland Security Is Broken and Dangerous
The department suffers “a dangerous combination of broad authorities, weak safeguards, and insufficient oversight.”
Imagine Having a Decade of Your Life Erased. It Happened to 161 People Exonerated from Prison in 2021.
A new report shows wrongfully convicted people serving 1,849 years behind bars across the United States before being released last year.
Why Is Facebook Censoring Articles About How BLM Used Donations To Buy a $6 Million House?
Reporting that makes Black Lives Matter look bad should not be covered up by social media companies.
The New York Times Belatedly Admits the Emails on Hunter Biden's Abandoned Laptop Are Real and Newsworthy
A year and a half after the New York Post broke the story, the Times says it has "authenticated" the messages it previously deemed suspect.
The Batman Wrestles With a Gloomy, Problematic Billionaire Version of Batman
It's a Batman movie that seems distinctly uncomfortable with the idea of Batman.
Goodbye, Cuomos!
Last year may have been the year of the Cuomosexual, but 2021 rightly disabused people of the notion that New York's governor had their best interests at heart.
In a New Survey, Victims of Philadelphia's Forfeiture Racket Highlight the Hazards of Giving Cops a License To Steal
"What they're doing is like robbery," observed one property owner.
Top Cop Who Presided Over Deadly Corruption in Houston Loses His New Job in Miami 6 Months After He Was Hired
Art Acevedo provoked many complaints, but they paled in comparison to his prior record of negligence and obliviousness.
A Pending Pardon for George Floyd Shows How the Drug War Gives Cops a License To Lie
Floyd was arrested for selling crack by a crooked Houston narcotics cop who repeatedly lied to implicate people in drug crimes.
A Houston Man Framed on Drug Charges Is Suing the Lethally Corrupt Cop Who Sent Him to Prison
Otis Mallet's ordeal, like the deaths of Dennis Tuttle and Rhogena Nicholas, involved a fictional drug purchase.
The Afghanistan Lessons America Refused To Learn
A U.S. agency spent 13 years documenting our government's failure to stabilize or rebuild the country.
Cuomo Resigns as New York Governor at Long Last
After allegedly sexually harassing 11 women and issuing nursing home COVID guidance that led to massive outbreaks and huge death tolls, Cuomo is out.