laws
You Don't Pass a Pool Fencing Law After a Child Drowns, Says Jeb, Who Did Just That
Jay Hathaway · 10/02/15 05:57PMArkansas Lawmakers Believe Medically-Induced Abortions Are "Reversible"
Ashley Feinberg · 04/08/15 02:57PMJust as several states now legally obligate doctors to lie to women about the dangers of abortion, Arkansas now has its own law forcing doctors to peddle bullshit. Physicians in the state will be required to tell any woman taking abortion-inducing drugs that she can reverse the process mid-treatment—a claim that's based on pretty much nothing.
Three Jailed in Myanmar for Posting Image of a Buddha Wearing Headphones
Gabrielle Bluestone · 03/19/15 12:14AMThe Gun-Law Improvements That No One Is Taking Seriously
Adam Weinstein · 05/28/14 01:03PMAmerica's gun conversation, to the extent that there is one, is facile, extreme and led by monied interests on both ends. The NRA is awful and the vocal anti-gun left is little better—focused on superficial answers to a culture-wide problem. Here are some reform ideas that ought to be taken seriously.
Texas Teen Could Face Life In Prison for Alleged Hash Oil Possession
Dayna Evans · 05/20/14 07:53PMNineteen-year-old Jacob Lavoro was arrested last month after police officers reportedly found 1.5 pounds of brownies, a pound of marijuana, digital scales, $1,675 in cash, and dozens of baggies with marijuana and hash oil at his apartment. Authorities in the case are saying he could face from five years to life in prison, if he is found guilty.
Sarah Hedgecock · 04/29/14 01:37PM
We Must Make Parachutes Mandatory for All Air Travelers
Hamilton Nolan · 11/05/13 02:26PMIf you're anything like me, your favorite movie of 2013 so far is "Amazing Helmet-Cam Video of Skydivers on One Plane When Another Plane Hits Them," followed by Olympus Has Fallen. How many planes must crash into one another triumphantly before we accept that air travelers should all be wearing parachutes?
New California Law Lets Minors Easily Erase Dumb Shit They Put Online
Camille Dodero · 09/24/13 05:23PMHave no fear, all you 14-year-old virgin boys in California who find it funny to post social-media bios that say that you're "hung like a rhinosaurus [sic]" and that you "get more ass than a toilet seat." As of 2015, you will be legally guaranteed the right to delete that dumb shit before serious people who can influence your future see it!
New York State Senate Bill Would Make It a Felony to "Annoy" a Cop
Max Read · 06/06/13 07:47AMCord Jefferson · 06/03/13 12:51PM
The Supreme Court ruled today that cops may take D.N.A. from people arrested—but not convicted—for serious crimes. Even Scalia thinks this is some bullshit: "Because of today’s decision, your D.N.A. can be taken and entered into a national database if you are ever arrested, rightly or wrongly, and for whatever reason."
Tom Scocca · 04/19/13 04:31PM
North Dakota Inching Ever Closer to Being First State to Enact Personhood Abortion Law
Cord Jefferson · 03/22/13 03:52PMThe North Dakota House passed a bill this afternoon that would define life as beginning at conception, effectively moving one step closer to banning all abortion in the state without exception for rape or incest. Approved by the state Senate last month, the bill will now go to voters as a ballot initiative. This latest restrictive measure comes only a week after North Dakota legislators approved bills that would ban abortion beyond six weeks into pregnancy and ban abortion in the case of genetic abnormality, like Downs Syndrome.
Judge Blocks NYC's Soda Ban, Calling It 'Arbitrary and Capricious'
Cord Jefferson · 03/11/13 03:26PMWe Need a Federal Law Banning Public Subsidies for Private Companies
Hamilton Nolan · 12/03/12 12:15PMAmerican states, counties, and cities routinely offer huge tax incentives and subsidies to private businesses in order to lure those businesses into locating themselves in a particular place. Spend a little to get a lot, the theory goes. Priming the pump of economic development, etc. The problem is that what is supposed to be spending for the public's benefit in fact benefits only private corporations. And it should be outlawed.
Boring New York Court Decides Strippers Are Not as Artistic as Ballerinas
MTanzer · 10/23/12 08:59PMPenises Exposed in Broad Daylight Becoming Less Cool in San Francisco
Cord Jefferson · 10/03/12 07:05PMIn 2008 I went to San Francisco's Folsom Street Fair with my then-girlfriend and saw the oddest instance of public nudity I'd ever come across. It was a guy in a mask who was naked from the waist down and sitting motionlessly in a doorway, ostensibly unperturbed by the thousands of people milling around about him. I was confused as to why someone might wear a T-shirt and socks but no pants or underwear, but the man himself didn't seem unsure of a thing. He didn't even move when another, younger man came out of the door he was obstructing, forcing the resident to quietly step over him as if he were the one doing something strange.
Californians Would Slice Their Mamas' Throats for a Bite of Foie Gras as 'Foie-mageddon' Looms
Caity Weaver · 06/28/12 09:41PMAnti-Smoking Advocates Fight for Cigarette Tax Against Comically Evil Big Tobacco
Louis Peitzman · 06/03/12 04:42PMNJ Town Ticketing Pedestrians Caught Texting While Walking (UPDATE)
Neetzan Zimmerman · 05/14/12 08:10AMThe town of Fort Lee, New Jersey, has begun issuing tickets to people caught walking and texting after some 20 people have been struck by cars since the start of 2012.