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Legal Perspectives

Our state and federal constitutions go hand in hand to lay the foundation of our liberties. In the name of living and breathing constitutional ideology we have become a litigious legal society. The overwhelming amount of new laws and case law sometimes obscures peoples basic rights and we need to fight against these limitations based on popular...

Our state and federal constitutions go hand in hand to lay the foundation of our liberties. In the name of living and breathing constitutional ideology we have become a litigious legal society. The overwhelming amount of new laws and case law sometimes obscures peoples basic rights and we need to fight against these limitations based on popular sentiment or ideology. Our founding is based on a solid and unmovable belief in the preservation of the right of ordinary people to be the primary source of power given by God.

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Troubling Trends in Truancy Laws – is Wyoming Next?

by Tom Rose In a recent Law Commentary article out of Texas, Research Associate Jason Snead of the Heritage Foundation highlights an anticipated change in Texas' truancy laws. According to the article, Texas has prosecuted over 100,000 juveniles for Class C misdemeanors merely for truancy. Although my own research completely contradicts Mr. Snead's...
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Supreme Court Strikes a Blow for Free Speech

by Wyoming Liberty Staff The United States Supreme Court unanimously struck down a town's sign regulations in Reed v. Town of Gilbert, Arizona because the regulations violated the First Amendment's free speech guarantee. In so doing, the Court reminded Americans and their local governments that First Amendment free speech rights are foundational to...
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Are We Sure Services is the Right Word?


by Tom Rose Last week we discussed the reemerging proposed legislative change from a CHINS program in Wyoming to a FINS program. In brief, CHINS is the acronym for Child in Need of Supervision which is basically a child whom Wyoming Department of Family Services (DFS) believes to be uncontrollable by the child's parents. CHINS legislation requires ...
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Decriminalizing Status Offenders in Wyoming: Where Do We Stand?

by Tom Rose In 1974 the federal Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act (JJDPA) was passed mainly for the purpose of deinstitutionalizing juvenile status offenders. Most states initiated the act over the next few decades. Wyoming did not. Last week wasn't the first time I've run into stories advocating for harsher treatment for juvenile off...
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Juvenile Justice Reforms: The Other Side of the Argument


by Tom Rose As citizens we all want our communities to be safe from violent crime no matter who is committing it. At the same time, we shouldn’t sentence our juvenile offenders of minor non-violent crime to a lifetime of institutionalization. As we go forward in reform efforts let us not forget that Wyoming’s overall violent crime arrests for eithe...
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How Can We Reduce Wyoming’s Juvenile Arrest Rate?


by Tom Rose I have been researching Wyoming juvenile justice issues for several years now, and I am still sometimes surprised at what I find. When I began this research, I will admit that I was predisposed to simply believe that our law enforcement community should just stop arresting so many juveniles. After many interviews with law enforcement of...
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What would Wyoming juvenile crime look like if status offenses were decriminalized?


by Tom Rose As I mentioned in a previous blog, I believe that Wyoming should decriminalize status offenses. According to the most recent data available through both the FBI and the OJJDP, Wyoming ranks second-to-highest in the nation for both juvenile arrests and juvenile incarcerations. Wyoming is also the only state that has not decriminalized st...
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Is Juvenile Crime Decreasing in Wyoming?


by Tom Rose This week I attended two days of the Judiciary Interim Committee. There were several juvenile justice related topics on the agenda. During my attendance at these long and sometimes heated meetings a junior legislator asked out loud (in frustration) if anyone knew whether juvenile crime in Wyoming was actually decreasing. This legislator...
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WyLiberty attorney Benjamin Barr comments on the 1040 campaign checkbox in this NPR story

WyLiberty attorney Benjamin Barr comments on the 1040 campaign checkbox in this NPR story. April 14, 2015 
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New Facts Reveal More Problems with Civil Forfeiture in Wyoming


by Stephen Klein In the 2015 Wyoming Legislative Session, Senate File 14, or Senate Enrolled Act 1 (SEA 1), would have overhauled Wyoming's drug forfeiture laws to require a felony conviction before alleged drug property (cash, cars, firearms and the like) could be permanently taken by the state. The bill passed the Wyoming Legislature with an init...
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Mailing Address:

1740 H Dell Range Blvd. #274
Cheyenne, WY 82009

Phone: (307) 632-7020