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...