The IRS Misplaced Millions of Taxpayer Records. Again.
The only effective means of keeping tax collectors from misusing data is keeping it from them.
Government abuse
Qualified Immunity May Shield FBI Agents Who Abused the No-Fly List
The feds routinely abuse people’s rights and claim they shouldn’t be held accountable.
Newly Released Video Shows Border Patrol Shooting Man Who Called Authorities for Help
Agents claimed to see a gun that wasn't there. Video reveals nervous officers with a hunting mentality.
Feds May Need Warrants To Search Cell Phones at the Border After All
Snooping through emails, video, and photos isn’t the same as stumbling on containers full of cocaine.
Did NYC Schools Retaliate Against Parents Who Asked Too Many Questions?
Parents of disabled children say the schools filed false neglect reports against them.
NYC's Child Protection Agency Lobbying To Weaken Parents' Rights Bill
A bill advancing the New York State Assembly would require child welfare agents to inform parents of their legal rights when beginning an investigation of child abuse or neglect.
The County Sold Her Home Over Unpaid Taxes and Kept the Profit. SCOTUS Wasn't Having It.
"The taxpayer must render unto Caesar what is Caesar's, but no more," wrote Chief Justice John Roberts.
Dissecting the Durham Report
Join Reason on YouTube Thursday at 1 p.m. Eastern with Eli Lake to discuss what the Durham report tells us about the FBI, the media and U.S. politics.
Texas Tries To Rein in False Accusations of Child Abuse
The state legislature passed a law to limit anonymous reports to its child abuse hotline.
Spying Abuses Are Still a Concern, 10 Years After Edward Snowden
Despite some headway in protecting privacy, the surveillance state hasn’t gone away.
The Perils of 'Rule by Indefinite Emergency Edict'
Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch highlights a vital lesson from the COVID-19 pandemic.
'Reprehensible and Plainly Unconstitutional': Child Welfare Agents Took Their Kids. Now They're Suing.
Even though a family pediatrician said she had "zero concerns," child welfare services still seized Josh Sabey's and Sarah Perkins' two young children. It took four months for the couple to regain custody.
The Government Stole Her Home Equity Over an Unpaid Tax Bill. Will the Supreme Court Vindicate Her?
A win for Geraldine Tyler, who is now 94 years old, would be a win for property rights.
She Had $2,300 in Unpaid Taxes. The County Bilked Her for $25,000.
Geraldine Tyler's case is not unique; home equity theft is legal in Minnesota and 11 other states.
Autopsy Shines Light on Death of Child Taken by Arizona's Child Welfare Agency
He was hospitalized multiple times for diabetes while in state custody.
Josie Duffy Rice Investigates Gruesome State Violence at an Alabama 'Reform School'
Her podcast Unreformed: The Story of the Alabama Industrial School for Negro Children delves into abuse at a state-run institution.
Debate: To Preserve Individual Liberty, Government Must Affirmatively Intervene in the Culture War
What happens when anti-liberty zealots get the same powers?
Brittney Griner's Russian Imprisonment Outraged the Country. So Should Vladimir Kara-Murza's.
The journalist and dissident, who was sentenced to 25 years in a penal colony for criticizing the Russian government, has not received the same attention.
Is Clarence Thomas Ethically Challenged?
Plus: What the editors hate most about the IRS and tax day
Texas' Foster Care System Is Grossly Mismanaged
"These things are just so inexcusable," a judge said. "It's hard to understand."
The Media and Politicians Keep Trying To Censor Things That Turn Out To Be True
The COVID-19 lab leak theory was labeled "misinformation." Now it's the most plausible explanation.
Biden's 'Buy American' Rules Are Getting in the Way of Biden's Rural Broadband Push
Industrial policy is never as simple as it seems.
IRS Is 48 Days Late To Issue Report Telling American Public How It'll Spend New $80 Billion
The agency’s new report tells us practically nothing of significance.
Mom Who Was Arrested for Letting 14-Year-Old Babysit Has Finally Been Cleared
"I didn't know if this would ever end," says Melissa Henderson. "I'm very relieved. A heaviness has lifted."
Apocalypse Tomorrow: Trump's Looming Indictment
Plus: the terrible case for pausing A.I. innovation
Debate: Artificial Intelligence Should Be Regulated
Is an A.I. "foom" even possible?
Federal Agencies Are Still Using Our Phones as Tracking Beacons
Our mobile devices constantly snitch on our whereabouts.
Britain's 'Lockdown Files' Reveal the Sordid Thinking Behind Pandemic Policy
Eye-opening insights into the messy motivations behind restrictive COVID-19 responses.
An Oregon Man Was Wrongly Imprisoned for Almost a Year Because of an Error in a DMV Database
The Oregon DMV knew about the problem, but it "wasn't at a high enough level to understand the urgency" of the need to fix it.
Police Found a Blunt in Their Car. So They Seized Their Kids.
"Then my baby started crying so I reached for my son, and as I'm reaching, a man held me and told me, 'Don't touch him. He's getting taken away from you,'" said the children's mother.
Lawsuit: Prosecutors Filed Bogus Charges Against Detroit Man in Retaliation for Challenging Seizure of Car
The Institute for Justice says Robert Reeves' First Amendment rights were violated when prosecutors filed and refiled baseless felony charges against him after he sued to get his car back.
Sheriff's Employee Embezzled Funds in Keeping with the Spirit of Civil Asset Forfeiture
One guy with gambling debts is a news story, but a formal policy of legalized theft is a national scandal.
Waco Offers New Insights From ATF Agents
Historian Jeff Guinn's account focuses on the ATF's oft-overlooked fiasco in the 1993 affair rather than the FBI's widely reported involvement.
IRS Plans To Raid Workers' Tip Jars
A coming crackdown on $1.6 billion in unreported tips will continue the IRS' long and ugly history of targeting low-income Americans.
West Virginia Family Court Judge with History of Arranging Warrantless Searches Resigns
We may have finally discovered a limit to judicial immunity.
What Tyre Nichols' Killing Tells Us About Policing: Live With Walter Katz, Nick Gillespie, and Zach Weissmueller
Join Reason on YouTube and Facebook on Thursday at 1 p.m. ET for a discussion of Tyre Nichols, police reform, and violent crime in America, featuring Walter Katz.
Poll: One-Fifth of Americans Say Government Is Our Nation's Top Problem
Plus: Democrats doubt Harris' ability to win, an end to pandemic emergency status, and more...
Are We Making Any Progress on Police Brutality?
Plus: The editors consider the ongoing debt ceiling drama and answer a listener question about ending the war on drugs.
COVID Made Us Sick, But Government Responses Crippled Our Liberty
Report author: “The COVID-19 pandemic was a catastrophe for human freedom.”
New Video Shows Memphis Police Fatally Beating, Tasing, Pepper-Spraying Tyre Nichols
The five police officers involved in the deadly encounter have been charged with Nichols' murder.
A Boy Was Taken Into State Custody. 2 Weeks Later, He Was Dead.
"They couldn't keep him alive for two weeks," says the boy's father. "That's absolutely insane."
New Jersey Town That Sued a Woman for Public Records Requests Now Wants Lawyer Prosecuted for Same Thing
Irvington made national headlines last year when it filed a lawsuit against an 82-year-old woman for filing too many public records requests. Now it says a lawyer for FIRE should be prosecuted.
Federal Adoption Law Leads States To Prematurely Separate Families
For 25 years, the law has been giving states kickbacks when they finalize adoptions quickly.
In One Arizona County, Child Protective Services Will Eventually Investigate Two-Thirds of Black Children
A staggeringly high number of families are subject to child abuse and neglect investigations in Maricopa County, Arizona.
Doctors Discovered a Baby's Minor Injury. Then Massachusetts DCF Seized Him in the Middle of the Night.
State actors are increasingly willing to seize children even with little evidence of child abuse.
Women In ICE Detention Center Subjected to 'Unnecessary' Gynecological Procedures, Investigation Finds
"This is an extraordinarily disturbing finding" that "represents a catastrophic failure by the Federal government to respect basic human rights."