Criminal justice

July 13, 2017

Why Can’t Charlotte Fix This?

Charlotte has always tried to be a progressive city, but last summer of 2016 all that came crashing down as the world watched their city streets erupt in violence. Protesters were reacting to a final […]

June 1, 2015

Ross Ulbricht and the Courage to Break the Law

On May 29, Ross Ulbricht was given a life sentence. His lawyers say they will try to appeal. The charges for which Ulbricht will likely spend his life in prison all center around […]

March 24, 2015

Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. V: Escaping Prison Forever

Earlier in this series, I argued that punishment, prisons, and criminal law are inherently unjust, and that a purely restitution-focused system of tort law would be a suitable replacement. Even those who end up agreeing may still wonder […]

March 10, 2015

Is Monopoly Self-Justifying?

One common rebuttal to those of us who criticize the police is “Don’t like cops? Next time you’re in trouble, call a crackhead.” The argument behind the joke is clear: Those of […]

February 6, 2015

Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. IV: Free All Prisoners

The last three posts of this series have been focused on the injustice of punishment and criminal law, and the justice of a tort-based pure restitution system. Even if punishment itself were legitimate, however, […]

January 30, 2015

Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. III: For Actual Justice

In the previous couple of posts of this series, I argued that the practice of punishment and the institution of criminal law are inherently unjust. As an alternative, I proposed that we […]

January 6, 2015

Gun Control and the Police State

As protests in Ferguson and elsewhere have brought police militarization to the forefront of public debate, some voices suggest that reigning in police militarization requires stricter gun control laws. For example, Matthew […]

November 25, 2014

Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. II: The Criminality of Criminal Law

In the first post of this series, I gave some reasons why libertarians ought to reject the practice of punishment. As an alternative, I suggested that the only proper role of law […]

November 4, 2014

Against the Criminal Justice System, Pt. I: No One Should Ever Be Punished

As the pain, suffering, and sheer cost incurred by the criminal justice system in America spirals further and further out of control, more and more people have come to push for reform. […]