Help Reason Help Individuals Crushed by the State
During Reason‘s annual Webathon, in which we ask our most loyal customers to consider making a tax-deductible donation to the 501(c)3 nonprofit that makes our print and pixels and audio and visuals possible, it has become a tradition to showcase a category of our work that, perhaps counter-intuitively for the purposes of fundraising, has the very worst effects on end-user blood pressure.
I am talking, of course, about those many, many, MANY cases of undeserving individuals tasting the crushing boot of an unforgiving state. Pop your favorite beta blocker, keep your tranquilizers, and prepare to emit steam. BUT FIRST!
Thanks to a generous challenge grant from Reason Torchbearer Daniel Shuchman, every $1 you donate turns into $2 until the little orange-box thingie gets to $439,000.
Won’t you please donate to Reason right the hell now?
“This is your chance,” Reason Senior Editor Jacob Sullum tweeted Friday, near the bottom of an infuriating thread, “to take a stand against vengeful officials who abuse the law to punish people for constitutionally protected speech.”
Sullum was referencing a piece that Reason began covering way back in 2017, continuing all the way to last month: A citizen-journalist in Laredo, Texas, named Priscilla Villarreal, was arrested and charged with two felony counts of “misuse of official information” for the journalistically (and constitutionally) basic act of asking cops for factual details about some deadly incidents. Villarreal’s case, in which the rights-offending officers have been protected by the odious legal doctrine of Qualified Immunity, has gone all the way up to the Supreme Court (Sullum joined a court brief in her support).
Watch Billy Binion’s video report about Villarreal’s case, and note that, as Sullum says, “Given the tendency of cops and prosecutors to abuse the law in service of grudges against people who annoy them, there are bound to be more cases like these, and you can be confident that Reason will be there to explain the stakes.”
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“During the height of the pandemic summer of 2020,” Eric Boehm wrote in our March 2024 issue, “the proprietors of the Burning Bridge Tavern worked with local officials in Wrightsville, Pennsylvania, to host a series of outdoor gatherings for the community.” You’ll never guess what happened next!
Burning Bridge got slapped with a bunch of citations by the Pennsylvania Liquor Control Board (PLCB), of course, but the real gut-punch came during liquor-license renewal time:
Turns out, over the past two years the PLCB has pushed dozens of Pennsylvania establishments that racked up pandemic-related citations to sign “conditional licensing agreements” to renew their liquor permits. In some cases, those agreements have forced the sale of licenses—but in most cases, as with Burning Bridge, they’ve added additional conditions to the license that could prevent a future renewal from being approved.
Those renewal-conditions can have knock-on effects such as making insurance ruinously expensive. All for the sin of providing some much-needed community during a time of social isolation and government overreach. Boehm’s article, you’ll be happy to know, was read into the record at a hearing of the Pennsylvania Senate.
Please donate to Reason for more crtiques of the moralistic licensing state!
Reason‘s Christian Britschgi likes to defend the little guy while filling the rest
Article from Reason.com
The Reason Magazine website is a go-to destination for libertarians seeking cogent analysis, investigative reporting, and thought-provoking commentary. Championing the principles of individual freedom, limited government, and free markets, the site offers a diverse range of articles, videos, and podcasts that challenge conventional wisdom and advocate for libertarian solutions. Whether you’re interested in politics, culture, or technology, Reason provides a unique lens that prioritizes liberty and rational discourse. It’s an essential resource for those who value critical thinking and nuanced debate in the pursuit of a freer society.
