by Tom Rose As we have been exploring together in recent weeks, the proposed decriminalization of status offenses in Wyoming will be positive change for our juvenile justice system. This needed change will also leave several problem behaviors in justice limbo. From truancy to tobacco and alcohol consumption the status offense behaviors are dangerou...

As dreams of palaces turn into nightmares, Wyoming's Capitol renovation project muddles along to fiscal disaster. After paying millions to design and architectural consultants and having state employees work on the project for more than a year, the committee has decided it's time to hire someone to manage the project. But instead of hiring someone ...

by Tom Rose Last week I wrote about some trends in truancy laws and how truancy fits into the status offense decriminalization issues for Wyoming. Although most legislators with whom I speak about status crimes and other juvenile justice issues are well informed, I still run into people who are unaware that Wyoming regularly jails status offenders ...

by Charles Katebi Governor Mead is by no stretch of the imagination a visionary government reformer. However, he took a big step towards expanding healthcare access in Wyoming by signing the Interstate Medical Licensure Compact into law. This will allow out-of-state physicians to practice medicine in Wyoming and lower healthcare costs for patients....

by Wyoming Liberty Staff In her big speech on economic policy on July 13, Democrat presidential candidate Hillary Clinton outline a vision for expanding the American welfare state. At 17:45 into the video, Mrs. Clinton summarizes her entitlement agenda: Fair pay and fair scheduling, paid family leave and earned sick days, child care are essential t...

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...

by Wyoming Liberty Staff Ever since Colorado decided to legalize marijuana there has been an increasingly intense discussion in Wyoming over whether or not the Cowboy State should go the same way. Some people have (for unclear reasons) confidently, consistently, told us that it can never happen here. However, as I explained last year, whenever ther...

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...

by Wyoming Liberty Staff When the Colonies broke away from King George III and his British Empire, the driving force was to unshackle everyone, rich or poor, from the tyranny of an authoritarian monarchy. It is often, and rightly so, noted that American independence created an era of unprecedented entrepreneurial freedom. This in turn resulted in l...

More than 50 years ago Bernard DeVoto uttered perhaps the truest statement ever made with respect to the public lands and the rural West; the actual western view of the place of the federal government, DeVoto explained, is: "Go away and give us more money." Robert H. Nelson, Our Languishing Public Lands, Policy Review, February & March 2012. Th...

by Charles Katebi Progressives constantly frame the debate over healthcare reform as a false choice: should healthcare be financed through insurance companies or the government? Both options leave patients at the mercy of third parties. Now an alternative known as Direct Primary Care promises to put the patient back in the driver's seat. The patien...

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 ...

In four weeks, the Supreme Court will rule on King v. Burwell. A ruling in favor of the plaintiffs invalidates federal insurance subsidies for the 36 states without a state exchange and frees them from the individual and employer mandate. States that built their own exchanges bound their residents to Obamacare's mandates, penalties, and restriction...

Sergeant Joe Friday, in James Webb's classic radio and TV show Dragnet, often cautioned witnesses when he interviewed them, "Just the facts." Some modern journalists and editors could use that admonition. When you see a headline, "Wyoming Makes It A Crime To Collect Evidence Of Pollution On Public Lands", you have to wonder. Where did they get that...

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...

by Charles Katebi When progressives make the case for Medicaid Expansion, without fail they remind their listeners that the federal government has pledged to cover 90 percent of the cost of expansion. But a report from the Foundation for Government Accountability sheds light on just how empty the federal government's promises really are. On multipl...

by Sven Larson What can state pension reform advocates learn from Masutatsu Oyama? A great deal. Mr. Oyama - or Sosai Oyama as he should properly be referred to - was the founder of kyokushin karate, one of the toughest striking styles of martial arts ever invented. To prove just how tough his style was, Sosai Oyama fought full-grown bulls using no...

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...

by Charles Katebi Throughout the debate to expand Medicaid during the 2015 Legislative Session, opponents repeatedly claimed that the federal government couldn't be trusted to keep its promise to cover 90 percent of Medicaid Expansion's costs. So it should come as no surprise that the Obama Administration has now broached the idea of reneging on it...

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...