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Damon Root with Judge Andrew Napolitano on January 20, 2010

Mon, 01 Mar 2010 13:00:00 EST

Reason's Damon W. Root appeared on Fox News’ Freedom Watch with Judge Andrew Napolitano on January 20, 2010 to discuss the Second Amendment, federalism, and the Chicago gun case.

Jessica Corry: Republican Mom for Pot Legalization!

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:01:00 EST

Jessica Peck Corry is a Denver-based attorney, public policy analyst, and political strategist. She has been called one of Colorado’s most influential women by the Denver Examiner and named one of Colorado’s top political "movers and shakers" by the Colorado Statesman.

Reason.tv interviewed Corry on November 10, 2009. On the same day, she spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on "The Politics of the Drug War" with the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Law's Keith Stroup. Stroup's interview is available here. The whole panel, hosted by Reason contributor Terry Michael, can be viewed here

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 6 minutes.

Terry Michael, Jessica Corry, and Keith Stroup Discuss Marijuana Policy

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:01:00 EST

On November 10, 2009 Reason.tv caught up with the National Organization of the Reform of Marijuana Law Co-founder Keith Stroup, attorney Jessica Peck Corry and Reason contributor Terry Michael. They spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on "The Politics of the Drug War." Shorter interviews with Stroup and Corry can be viewed here and here.

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 1 hour and 20 minutes.

Keith Stroup, Co-Founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws

Mon, 11 Jan 2010 10:00:00 EST

Keith Stroup is an attorney and founder of the National Organization for the Reform of Marijuana Laws.

Reason.tv conducted this short interview with Stroup on November 10, 2009. On the same day, he spoke to students at the Washington Center for Journalism and Politics on a panel called "The Politics of the Drug War" with Jessica Peck Corry. Corry's interview is available here. The whole panel discussion, hosted by Reason contributor Terry Michael, can be viewed here.

Shot and edited by Reason.tv's Dan Hayes. Approximately 6 minutes.

We're the TSA and You Can Count on Us! (to overreact to tiny threats and ignore big ones)

Thu, 07 Jan 2010 00:00:00 EST

We're the Transportation Security Administration. We're working hard to make sure you enjoy a safe flight. And while we cannot apprehend every terrorist, you can count on us to do what we're trained to do whenever there's a security breach--overreact to tiny threats.

Overreact to tiny threats; ignore the big ones. That's what we do, and we do it better than anyone.

Written and produced by Ted Balaker.

Approximately one minute.

Worst. Decade. Ever.

Tue, 29 Dec 2009 10:30:00 EST

Hands down, the '00s were the worst political decade at least since the 1990s.

Reason.tv looks back at the (lack of) personalities, the scandals, and the screw-ups that made us all want to forget the first 10 years of the 21st century.

Approximately 2.10 minutes. No politicians were hurt in the making of this video.

Produced by Meredith Bragg and Nick Gillespie.

Scroll down for downloadable versions of this video.

Please subscribe to Reason.tv's YouTube Channel.

For an alternate take on The Aughts, read Jesse Walker's Five Reasons For Optimism.

Nick Gillespie: Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment

Tue, 10 Mar 2009 11:00:00 EDT

On Saturday, February 21, Reason.tv and Reason.com Editor in Chief Nick Gillespie addressed a crowd of 200-plus attending the second annual International Students for Liberty conference, held in Washington, D.C.

Titled "Why You're Living in the Libertarian Moment And What You Can Do to Keep and Expand Your Freedom" and featuring a slideshow set to Sid Vicious's version of "My Way," Gillespie's talk argued that we are more free than ever despite massive increases in government spending, regulation, and controls over the past several decades. Due to huge growth in wealth, technology, and social liberalization, more individuals are more free to pursue their lives on their own terms than ever before.

However, warned Gillespie, for these positive trends to continue it is imperative that the zero-sum game of politics be kept in as small and limited sphere as possible. In an age of bailouts and big spending, it is vitally important to stop thinking of politics in terms of right vs. left or conservative vs. liberal. The best way to analyze public policy and social organization is in terms of choice vs. control. Does a given idea expand the ability of people to pick and choose among various ways of living?

The future of freedom, argued Gillespie, rests upon the shoulders of today's libertarian-minded youth, who must convince their peers to reject the played-out politics of the past and embrace a vision of an open-ended future empowered by "free minds and free markets." And it is up to students to invent the next great, decentralizing, DIY technology like rock 'n' roll and the Internet.

It is important to engage politics, said Gillespie, but it is even more important to remember that real life exists far beyond the petty strictures of the next election or zoning board meeting. "Live your life as a work of art and an act of discovery. Create your own identity, your own community, and your own meaning."

Approximately 40 minutes. Shot and edited by Dan Hayes.

For an audio podcast, go here.

Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong

Tue, 03 Mar 2009 07:00:00 EST

Thank you, President Obama, for keeping your campaign pledge to end raids on medical marijuana dispensaries that are legal under state laws in California and elsewhere. Thank you for reversing an inhumane policy established by the Clinton administration and continued by the Bush administration.

Given the experience you and other elected officials have had with illegal drugs and your willingness to challenge the status quo, now is the time to reconsider decades of prohibitionist drug policies that have succeeded only in massively increasing the toll of human misery, violence, and hypocrisy. As with alcohol prohibition, the drug war intensifies and exacerbates every negative outcome it is ostensibly designed to combat.

President Obama, do the right thing and end the war on drugs.

"Obama, You're No Stranger to the Bong" was written, performed, and edited by Paul Feine; special thanks to Alex Manning.

Return to the Gulag

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 00:00:00 EST

Jon Utley was two years old in Moscow when his father, Arcadi Berdichevsky, a Russian trade official, was sent to a labor camp by the Soviet secret police. His mother, Freda Utley, escaped with Jon to England and then to America.

In 2004 and 2006, Utley, a well-known journalist, embarked upon a search to learn of his father's fate. This documentary traces Utley's journey through former labor camps and cities in northern Russia and his final uncovering of the horrible truth at the dreaded camp city of Vorkuta within the Artic Circle.

Directed by John J. Michalczyk, Return to the Gulag is a small but revealing window into Russia's turbulent 1930s.

Reason.tv is proud to present this Etoile Production, which was funded by The Freda Utley Foundation and the Jacques Salmanowitz Program For Moral Courage in Film at Boston College. Thanks also to the Fitzgerald Griffin Foundation.

For more information about the documentary, visit http://fredautley.com/Berdichevsky.htm.

For a DVD version of this program ($15 donation, plus shipping), please go to the website of The Victims of Communism Memorial Foundation or email vocmemorial@aim.com.

Reason.tv at Sundance: Shouting Fire!

Thu, 29 Jan 2009 09:30:00 EST

Martin Garbus' client list spans from Nelson Mandela to Don Imus. He defended comedian Lenny Bruce against obscenity charges and argued for neo-Nazis' right to march in the predominantly Jewish town of Skokie, Illiniois.

Garbus is featured in the new documentary Shouting Fire: Stories from the Edge of Free Speech. The film is directed by his daughter Liz Garbus, and screened at the Sundance Film Festival.

Reason.tv's Ted Balaker caught up with Martin Garbus at the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah.

Killer Chic

Thu, 11 Dec 2008 06:29:00 EST

Gisele Bundchen wears him on the runway, Johnny Depp wears him around his neck, and Benicio Del Toro becomes him in the new, highly acclaimed, two-part epic film from Steven Soderbergh, Che. Ernesto "Che" Guevara, the revolutionary who helped found communist Cuba, is the celebrity that celebrities adore. And be it Madonna, Rage Against the Machine, or Jay-Z, musicians really dig Che.

It’s something that baffles Cuban jazz legend Paquito D’Rivera. “Che hated artists, so how is it possible that artists still today support the image of Che Guevara?” Turns out the rebellious icon that emblazons countless T-shirts actually enforced aesthetic and political conformity. D’Rivera explains that Che and other Cuban authorities sought to ban rock and roll and jazz.

“Che was an inspiration for me,” D’Rivera tells reason.tv. “I thought I have to get out of this island as soon as I can, because I am in the wrong place at the wrong time!” D’Rivera did escape Cuba, and so far he’s won nine Grammy awards playing the kind of music Che tried to silence. But D’Rivera says Che’s crimes didn’t end with censorship. “He ordered the execution of many people with no trial.” Che served as Castro’s chief executioner, presiding over the infamous La Cabana prison. D’Rivera says Che’s policy of killing innocents earned him the nickname—the Butcher of La Cabana.

“We’re rightly horrified by fascist murderers like Adolph Hitler,” says reason.tv’s Nick Gillespie. “Why aren’t we also horrified by communist killers?” Certainly, Che’s body count isn’t anywhere near Hitler’s. But what about someone Che idolized, someone whom he might have liked to wear on his chest?

“Che, Castro, all the communist regimes idolized only one thing that Mao personifies—violence.” Kai Chen grew up in China under the reign of Mao Zedong. Although he won gold medals for China’s national basketball team, Chen’s was far from the celebrity life of an NBA star. Says Chen, “You have no right to talk, and you have no right to think.”

The punishment for questioning Mao’s authority was often death. The Black Book of Communism estimates that Mao is responsible for the deaths of 65 million people—a figure that dwarfs even Hitler’s body count. “Mao is a murderer,” says Chen. “The biggest mass murderer in human history.”

And yet, like Che, Mao’s image is becoming an increasingly popular way to move merchandise. You can buy Mao t-shirts, mugs, caps—you name it. Near Chen’s Los Angeles home there’s even a restaurant called Mao’s Kitchen. “Can you imagine a restaurant called Hitler’s Kitchen?” asks Gillespie.

Neither D’Rivera nor Chen understands why communist killers are considered Chic, but each finds his own way to have the last laugh on these anti-capitalist icons.

"Killer Chic" is written and produced by Ted Balaker. Director of Photography is Alex Manning.

Closing music, "Che Guevara T-Shirt Wearer," courtesy of The Clap. Listen to the whole song here.

Victory at San Tan Flat!

Thu, 15 May 2008 07:00:00 EDT

When Drew Carey and reason.tv last checked in on San Tan Flat, a family-oriented restaurant in Pinal County, Arizona the father-and-son owners Dale and Spencer Bell were fighting against a ridiculous, anachronistic, and anti-business ban on outdoor dancing. Check that video out here.

What a difference a video—and ongoing litigation courtesy of the libertarian public-interest law firm the Institute for Justice—makes! As The Arizona Republic reports:

Pinal County Superior Court Judge William O'Neil overturned a decision from the county Board of Supervisors that said the country-Western-themed restaurant was operating an illegal dance hall by allowing patrons to dance to live music on its back patio.

The judge's ruling brings closure to the conflict between the county and restaurant owner Dale Bell, who have been at odds for more than two years after San Tan Flat neighbors complained about noise coming from the property.
The saga of San Tan Flat drew national attention, prompting commentary from actor Drew Carey and conservative Washington Post columnist George Will. The case also received several comparisons to the 1984 Kevin Bacon film Footloose, in which a small town bans rock music and dancing.

Saving An Innocent Man From Death Row

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Reason Senior Editor Radley Balko discusses the Cory Maye story, the war on drugs. the militarization of police, and more.

Back to Mississippi Drug War Blues: The Case of Cory Maye

Mississippi Drug War Blues

Wed, 07 May 2008 00:00:00 EDT

Update (November 20, 2009): On Tuesday of this week, the Mississippi State Court of Appeals ordered a new trial for Cory Maye. This is heartening news for Maye, who has been in prison since December of 2001. Defense attorney Bob Evans said of the decision, "I am, needless to say, delighted. I'm just ecstatic. We hoped against hope all along that this would happen." Reason senior editor Radley Balko, who has written extensively about the case, had this to say: "At worst, he's guilty of poor judgment under some pretty traumatic circumstances. He had no criminal record, wasn't a drug dealer and has been a model prisoner. Cory Maye isn't a threat to society. Let him go back to Monticello to be a father."

Update (February 9, 2009): We're proud to announce that Mississippi Drug War Blues: The Case of Cory Maye, by writer-producer Paul Feine and editor-producer Roger M. Richards, was awarded the Best Documentary Short prize at the 2009 Oxford Film Festival in Oxford, Mississippi.

Mississippi Drug War Blues originally aired on May 7, 2008.

At 11p.m on December 26, 2001 police in Prentiss, Mississippi raided the residence of Cory Maye, a 21-year-old father who was at home with his 18-month-old daughter Ta'Corriana.

The cops were looking for drugs and smashed through the back door. In the ensuing chaos, Maye hunkered down with his daughter in a bedroom and when the police broke down that door, he fired three bullets, one of which killed Officer Ron Jones. Maye testified in court that the police did not identify themselves until after they had entered his residence; indeed, he testified that they did not identify themselves until after he had fired his shots. Once they did, he said he put his weapon on the floor, slid it toward police, and surrendered.

The police, who refused to talk with reason.tv, tell a different story. They claim that they identified themselves multiple times before entering Maye's house and bedroom, and that there was no way Maye couldn't have known who they were. A jury rejected Maye's case that he was acting in self-defense and he was sentenced to death for the murder of Officer Ron Jones.

"Mississippi Drug War Blues" is a story about the intersection of race (Maye is black and Jones was white); the war on drugs; the disturbing increase in the militarization of police tactics; and systemic flaws in the criminal justice and expert-testimony systems.

It is a tragedy in which one man is dead and another may spend his life in prison.

It is the subject of an October 2006 story in reason by Senior Editor Radley Balko, whose coverage of the case led to Cory Maye receiving new legal representation and his death sentence being changed to life in prison. To read the original story, please go here.

In September 2006, Cory Maye's new legal team of Robert Evans and lawyers from the Washington, D.C.-based firm of Covington and Burling was given two days to argue their post-trial motion that his guilty verdict should either be overturned or that he should be granted a new trial.

After the hearing, the judge ordered a new sentencing trial, determining that Maye's trial attorney was competent during the guilt phase of his trial, but incompetent during the death penalty phase. He ruled against all of the remaining defense arguments, including concerns about confidential informant Randy Gentry, discrepancies in police testimony, the venue for the trial, and problems with controlling precedent in the state with respect to self-defense.

Prosecutors eventually agreed to drop their pursuit of the death penalty. Earlier this year, Maye was again sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole.

Because of the delays associated with acquiring new representation, Cory Maye's case in May 2008 is still in the early stages of his appeal. His legal team anticipates the case will be heard in the fall.

If the Mississippi State Court of Appeals denies Maye relief, he'll then appeal to the Mississippi State Supreme Court. If he's again denied relief, he'll begin his federal appeal process in the United States District Court in the Southern District of Mississippi, and then to the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit.

In early 2008, a state district court judge in Mississippi denied attempts by Maye's attorneys to bring in Dr. Steven Hayne for questioning (Hayne, who performed the autopsy of Ron Jones, was a key witness for the prosecution). Maye's lawyers had hoped to question Hayne under oath about recent revelations about Hayne's questionable autopsy procedures and questionable credentials, first reported in reason, then touted by the Innocence Project and its Mississippi chapter. Maye's lawyers plan to raise their concerns about Hayne in the appeal.

Cory Maye is currently housed in Unit 32, the high-security wing at Mississippi's Parchman Penitentiary. His daughter Ta'Corrianna lives in Covington, Louisiana with her mother Chanteal Longino. His son Cory, Jr. lives in Jackson, Mississippi.

Bob Barr: Why I Want To Be President

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Tue, 29 Apr 2008 07:00:00 EDT

Libertarian Party presidential hopeful Bob Barr recently visited the reason D.C. HQ to talk about why he's running for the nation's highest office. The main reason? The erosion of civil liberties and evisceration of the Constitution under George W. Bush. In this no-question-left-unasked interview conducted by reason's David Weigel and filmed by reason's Dan Hayes, Barr explains why he voted for The PATRIOT Act and the authorization of force in Iraq (two votes he regrets greatly); what federal cabinet-level departments he would axe; why he changed his mind about the drug war; what the future holds for the LP; and much more.

So pull up a chair and spend about 15 minutes with the former GOP congressman from Georgia who now works with the ACLU and the NRA.

For more of the theme music, go here.

Porn Star Politics

paul.feine@reason.tv (Paul Feine) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:06:00 EST

Hustler magazine publisher, Larry Flynt, has been pushing the envelope of taste, and fighting for his right to do so, since the 1970s. In a 1988 landmark Supreme Court case, the court held that Flynt had the right to publish a parody ad in which evangelist Jerry Falwell--an outspoken critic of Flynt--describes his "first time" as having been with his mother, "drunk off our God-fearing asses," in an outhouse. The justices held that a parody of a public figure is protected under the 1st Amendment even if it is "doubtless gross and repugnant."

In that case alone, Flynt spent $3 million fighting for our first amendment rights (thanks, Larry!) and, amazingly, he and Falwell eventually became close friends.

Today, Hustler continues to explore the intersections of porn and politics. This video provides a rare look at US politics through the eyes of porn stars.

Paul Fan Video v. Clinton Fan Video: Tattoos, Handcuffs, Defiance Beat Hair Nets, Rubber Gloves, Spunkiness

jsullum@reason.com (Jacob Sullum) — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 13:53:00 EST

Keith Halderman unfavorably compares that cringe-inducing Laverne and Shirley ode to Hillary Clinton with Aimee Allen's catchy Ron Paul song (above). While I have my doubts about rhyming grave with state, and I'm not sure why the IRS is putting duct tape over Allen's mouth (maybe because she tried to sell books by Irwin Schiff?), her effort is undeniably superior: original, pointed, and sexy, as opposed to an embarrassing retread of a song that was bad enough to begin with. But inasmuch as Allen is a professional songwriter and performer, while the Hillary fan who thinks the senator has what it takes to make all our dreams come true is (I'm assuming) not, the comparison is not exactly fair. There's a much more telling contrast between the war and civil liberties themes of Allen's video and the stop-the-invading-landscapers message of campaign commercials like this one.

In the April issue of reason, which subscribers will receive soon, Dave Weigel explains why Paul's "lunge for the Minuteman vote didn't work."

Update: The Aimee Allen video seems to have been removed from YouTube, although it's still available here. You can find the audio of her song on YouTube, illustrated by various still images (here and here, for example), but it's not quite the same.

Update to the update: The video is back up on YouTube. The issue seems to have been the implied connection to the Paul campaign. It is now labeled "Aimee Allen: *Unofficial* Ron Paul Revolution Video."

Napolitano at Reason in DC

dan.hayes@reason.org (Dan Hayes) — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 15:00:00 EST

Fox News legal analyst Judge Andrew Napolitano is among the fiercest defenders of individual rights. Both in his daily appearances on the country's most-watched cable news network and in a series of books (most recently, A Nation of Sheep), Napolitano consistently and defiantly argues that the only legitimate government is that which respects its citizens rights in all cases.

In late October, Napolitano gave the keynote address at the conference Reason in DC, where he delivered a spellbinding speech that blended a masterful understanding of American history with a blazing outrage at the excesses of the new security state. "Who [is] the greatest violator of the Constitution?" asks Napolitano. "George W. Bush has shown less fidelity to the Constitution than any president since Abraham Lincoln."

Click above to view the Judge's speech (approx. 40 minutes).

Medical Marijuana

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 00:00:00 EDT

“I think it’s clear by now that the federal government needs to reclassify marijuana. People who need it should be able to get it – safely and easily,” says The Price Is Right and Power of 10 host Drew Carey in a new Reason.tv video examining medical marijuana and the war on drugs.

One of the most outrageous consequences of the war on drugs is the federal crackdown on medical marijuana, which is used by patients to help treat the effects of cancer, glaucoma, HIV-AIDS, chronic pain and nausea, and other severe symptoms associated with serious illnesses. Medical marijuana prescribed by a physician is legal in 12 states, yet federal agents are raiding state-approved dispensaries and preventing patients from having safe access to this drug.

In Episode 2 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Drew takes a look at patients who need and use medical marijuana in California, and how the federal government is making their lives even worse.

Episode 1 of Reason.tv's Drew Carey Project, Gridlock, is here.