A guide to your rights and searches of personal property when traveling
Americans do not surrender their constitutional rights when they travel. Yet, currently, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) policy hands U.S. border officials broad authority to conduct warrantless searches and seizures of electronic devices at ports of entry and of vehicles at checkpoints within 100 miles of the border. That policy is doing ...
I supported PLF for years. Then I experienced injustice firsthand.
I'm a farmer in California. As you may have read on PLF's blog, I recently fought an overzealous state agency and won after it tried to invoke California's anti-SLAPP statute. The victory was a win for the First Amendment and all future plaintiffs who might have lawsuits against the government. I wanted to write to you from a different perspecti ...
The making of John Locke—and the ideas that made America
America's 250th birthday has provided plenty of reasons to revisit the men and ideas behind the country's Founding. But another birthday passed at the end of August with considerably less fanfare, despite belonging to a man without whom the American experiment might have looked very different. On August 29, 1632, English philosopher John Locke w ...
Austin American-Statesman : Yes to women in sports. No to rigid quotas in Title IX enforcement
A recent piece in the Austin American-Statesman asked: "Who decided girls don't really want to compete?" But no serious commentator disputes that plenty of women enjoy competing, even at the highest levels of sport. The real policy question is: Who should decide how athletic opportunities are allocated? Should federal bureaucrats impose a stifli ...
Governing : States Can Impose More Environmental Regulations. That Doesn’t Mean They Should.
In the 2023 case Sackett v. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Supreme Court eliminated a number of sweeping federal regulatory burdens, particularly relating to environmental issues. Some states are now deciding whether to bring them back. Before they do, lawmakers should ask whether those burdens will actually produce, for example, cleaner ...
Wall Street Journal : Don’t Write Plymouth’s History by Ancestry
Millions visit Plymouth, Mass., to see the birthplace of American self-government. Yet today the town decides who participates in that government based on their ancestry. Plymouth occupies a singular place in the American story, with a rich history of the Pilgrims, the Wampanoag people and their complicated relationship. The town has chosen to p ...
Reason : SCOTUS Said You Can’t Lose Gun Rights for Smoking Pot. But You Could Still Lose a Government License To Work.
In June, a unanimous Supreme Court ruled in United States v. Hemani that the government can't strip your right to possess a firearm just because you smoke marijuana. Yet an old drug conviction could still stop you from waxing eyebrows, cutting hair, or giving massages. Hemani highlights a double standard in constitutional law: Courts roll out th ...
The Washington Post : My family farm has prairie potholes. In swooped the feds.
Cody Peterson is a farmer and property owner in North Dakota. My family has been farming in North Dakota for generations. Like most farmers, we have lived and worked through droughts, floods and price swings that would make a Wall Street trader's head spin. Now the government is adding an obstacle that threatens my ability to work my land. In ...
The Docket : August 28, 2026
The Docket is PLF's weekly newsletter covering the cases, clients, and policy battles shaping the future of liberty in America. You can catch up on last week's Docket here and subscribe below to receive future editions in your inbox. PLF's Ethan Blevins highlights the latest chapter in the "endless tug-of-war" between presidents o ...