Civil Liberties

If we are about to go to war, then ours is a curious sort of home front. It's not just that the public attitude toward war with Iraq is ambivalent, though that's part of it, certainly. There is a reason we think of "home front" as a World War II concept and not a Vietnam one. "Home front" suggests the appearance, at least, of unified, even monolithic opinion. Support for this war is soft and shifting -- it depends a… more

Did you hear about the government's new plan to launch anticipatory strikes against evildoers?

No, not President George W. Bush's policy, announced on June 1, of "preemptive action when necessary to defend our liberty and to defend our lives." That's old news. Now it's time to look ahead, to "Minority Report," the new Steven Spielberg movie, which offers a window into the dystopic future when government power is taken to extremes. If the film scares you, remember, it isn't… more

The Maya Angelou Public Charter School in Washington, D.C., is the kind of institution conservatives love -- a place that offers opportunity but demands responsibility. Students are in school ten and a half hours per day, all year long, mostly studying core subjects like reading, writing, math, and history. When not in class, they work in student-run businesses, where they earn money and learn job skills. Those who achieve academically are held in high esteem not only by their teachers… more

The growing national crusade against racial profiling is being called the civil rights movement of this generation. Polls have shown that a majority of Americans believe … more

Maryland police, claiming that Liberian college student Nelson Walker wasn't wearing a seat belt, dismantled his car searching for drugs; hours later, having found none, they handed him a… more

Several years ago I was driving cross-country from Washington to Berkeley. My D.C. license plates inevitably sparked interesting political discussions along the way, especially … more

If you happen to be an employer, a First Amendment absolutist or a trash-talking loser, life became a bit more difficult last week.

That's because the California Supreme Court forbade the future use of racial slurs in a workplace that has already been found by a court to be a hostile environment… more