Articles

The holiday season is a time for nostalgia, joy, and reflection, and few things capture the spirit of the season like the classic children’s holiday specials that have graced television screens for decades. These beloved tales are more than just seasonal entertainment—believe it or not, they offer timeless lessons about the foundations of a ...

In a small corner of New York State, a family’s quiet, peaceful home was shattered by an unthinkable intrusion. Environmental police stormed in, seized a rescued orphan squirrel named P’Nut, took him away, and put him down. All because his owner allegedly didn’t have the right license. That’s right: In New York you need a & ...

This series will focus on what “persons,” “houses,” “papers,” and “effects” mean, tackling each in turn, and examining how they stack up against the increasingly sophisticated ways that cities, bureaucrats, police officers, and even municipal code inspectors investigate Americans in the 21st century. ...

During his colorful tenure as mayor of New York City, Ed Koch often rode the subway and asked his fellow straphangers, “How’m I doin’?” If only Gov. Kathy Hochul would do the same. It wouldn’t take more than one or two brief trips to learn that her new militarized checkpoint scheme for the subway is … ...

Last week, a judge ruled that parents Josh Sabey and Sarah Perkins’ lawsuit could move forward against government officials who stole their children from their home without a court order in the middle of the night. The basis for this action? A single x-ray of their sick infant showed an old, healing rib injury. Without … ...

This article first appeared in the winter 2023 edition of Sword&Scales. Imagine you are a young child living in Salem, Massachusetts, in 1692. You are brought into a crowded meetinghouse where two magistrates—both commanding older men who serve on the council of Massachusetts Bay Colony—are waiting to interrogate you in front of an angry au ...

The Salem Witch Trials stand as a chilling reminder of the dark corners of humanity’s pursuit of justice. In the heart of that 17th-century hysteria, the Court of Oyer and Terminer became infamous for accusing and convicting “witches” based on flimsy evidence, hearsay, and an inverted burden of proof. Shockingly, echoes of these p ...

In Billings, Mont., a new law forces massage therapists, including those working from home, to open the door for government agents to search their properties and patient-treatment logs on demand. Insisting that the police or code enforcement return with a warrant, as the Constitution requires, can be grounds for arrest, prosecution and jail time. S ...

Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is a billionaire without a home: Chesky is one of many white-collar workers who decided to become “digital nomads” during the pandemic, living and working full-time in a series of short-term rentals in different cities. The growing trend has been a boon for Airbnb, which enjoyed its best year yet in … ...