Bob CollinsGov. Mark Dayton has signed a bill that protects people when their cars are used by drunk drivers. The authorities help themselves to property when crimes are committed — it’s called “forfeiture” and even when when someone convicted of DUI uses a vehicle without permission, the innocent owner can lose it. In 2015, nearly 7,000 Read more →
MPR News Reflections and observations on the news
Crime and Justice
Timothy Caughman, an Army veteran, was pretty proud of himself on Election Day, getting up early to stand in a fairly long line for the privilege of voting. God bless America.
Mr. Caughman is dead because he’s black.
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A law professor says he has rarely read a dissenting opinion as callous as the one Supreme Court nominee Neil Gorsuch wrote. That’s why Sen. Al Franken pursued it at Gorsuch’s nomination hearing on Tuesday. Read more →
If history is any guide, within a short time after Neil Gorsuch is confirmed to the U.S. Supreme Court, most Americans will have no idea who Neil Gorsuch is. And by history, I mean the present where most Americans can’t name a single justice on the U.S. Supreme Court.
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It’s not surprising — anymore — that a woman in Moorhead was accosted at a grocery store by a man who objected to her wearing a hijab. The key element of WDAY’s story of the incident is this one: Bystanders did nothing. Read more →
Using Google today? The cops may be watching. Read more →
A family of color in Delano is moving out after being targeted with racial epithets on their home. Read more →
The cyclist-driver gulf may never be bridged. Read more →
A Minneapolis woman has found that doing one’s civic duty can be pretty rough on nursing mothers. Read more →
Surdyk’s decision to flaunt the law isn’t much different from preachers who endorse political candidates from the pulpit, daring the federal government to do something about (it usually doesn’t).
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Today’s indication that there is no hope for civilization comes from the Pioneer Press which reports there is something called Smack Fest at a St. Paul joint.
It’s women slapping each other in the face.
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For all of the fascinating opinions from the Minnesota Supreme Court in recent years on the question of whether warrants are needed to test drivers for DUI, the Wisconsin Supreme Court one-upped them all with a ruling today on whether a warrant is needed to draw blood from someone who is unconscious. Read more →
When shots start, we run. It’s instinct. It’s entirely forgivable.
Some people don’t run.
Ian Grillot didn’t run. Read more →
What amendment to the U.S. Constitution is treated most cavalierly?
There’s an argument to be made that it’s the Fourth Amendment. Read more →
Drivers with cellphones aren’t the only ones who cherish freedom.
So do people in crosswalks. Read more →