Law

Law articles feature analysis and commentary related to censorship, policy, technology, media, economics, public health, and social life.

All Brownstone Institute articles on the topic of law are translated into multiple languages.

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Democracy Under Stress

Democracy Under Stress in America and India

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For decades, the US has tried to export and universalise bedrock American values like the rule of law, civil liberties, political freedoms and democratic practices. Now it is internalising some foreign policy vices like selective justice against unfriendly regimes while running protection for friendly ones.

Democracy Under Stress in America and India Read Journal Article

human rights

What Happened to the Human Rights Lobby?

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They have little interest in traditional liberal values such as freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of conscience, and in fact are often implicitly contemptuous of those values and think them to be dangerous. And they are fairly comfortable with the idea of the authorities bossing people around so long as it is for their own (purported) benefit. They, in other words, see themselves as being something like Plato’s class of ‘guardians’, who possess the wisdom to coordinate society as they see fit.

What Happened to the Human Rights Lobby? Read Journal Article

emergency

The Emergency Is Not Over

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The lawless government that went into overdrive three years ago, even if its roots extend far back in time, has finally ensnared the president who was manipulated into pulling the trigger. So yes, the lockdowns and this apparently political Trump indictment are connected. They are all signs of a loss of government restraint, taking us back before the days of the Magna Carta.

The Emergency Is Not Over Read Journal Article

Alien and Sedition Acts

The Alien and Sedition Acts are Back 

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With the Alien and Sedition Acts, not-yet-Presidents Thomas Jefferson (an icon of freedom, having been the primary author of the Declaration of Independence) and James Madison (an icon of a strong but restricted Federal government, having been the primary author of the Constitution) both suggested the individual states nullify the Acts within those individual states. HB1333 has the potential to codify what frightened Thomas Jefferson and James Madison. 

The Alien and Sedition Acts are Back  Read Journal Article

Trump Georgia

What Happened When the Georgia Governor Tried to Open the State?

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Georgia is important because it was the first state to open. Trump tweeted his opposition to this move both in general and then, two weeks later, in opposition to Kemp’s opening. Every bit of documentation absolutely contradicts Trump’s claim that he “left that decision up to the Governors” as a matter of his own intention. It was his intention to achieve what he later bragged he had done, which is “turned it off.”

What Happened When the Georgia Governor Tried to Open the State? Read Journal Article

narrative

The Narrative in Retreat

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The puzzle of why there was a worldwide cascading abandonment of a hundred years of accumulated knowledge by scientific and policy advisers will occupy researchers for many years. The result is that old lessons are having to be relearned. Judging by the rush of studies now coming through to contradict key tenets of the 2020–22 narrative, there’s hope that the wall of silence rooted in groupthink and fear of consequences to career and reputation might have been irreparably breached.

The Narrative in Retreat Read Journal Article

censorship disinformation

Censorship Masquerades and Disinformation Control

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The Virality Project however is just part of a broader cultural shift that reverses long standing liberal/left commitments to free expression and allows censorship in the name of protection and safety. However in suppressing “stories of true vaccine side effects” the Virality Project put people in danger. Rather than keeping people safe they exposed us to the depredations of BigPharma.

Censorship Masquerades and Disinformation Control Read Journal Article

washington dc

There is No Cure for Washington’s Arrogance

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Most Washingtonians I meet are color blind to other people’s freedom. At the start of the pandemic, government officials trumpeted terrifying statistical extrapolations of potential infection rates. Thus, they automatically became entitled to lock people in their homes, shut down their businesses, and padlock their churches. The credentials of experts receive infinitely more respect inside the Beltway than Americans’ constitutional rights. 

There is No Cure for Washington’s Arrogance Read Journal Article

Governor Hochul Files Appeal

Governor Hochul Files Appeal in Quarantine Camp Lawsuit

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The regulation allowed them to use law enforcement to enforce their orders of isolation or quarantine, which means you could have received a knock at the door from your local police or sheriff telling you that you had to go with them… by order of the Health Department.  

Governor Hochul Files Appeal in Quarantine Camp Lawsuit Read Journal Article