A recent ruling by the Supreme Court of the United States determined that excessive fines could not be imposed by state and local governments. The unanimous decision affirms the Excessive Fines Clause of the Eighth Amendment, which states that “Excessive bail shall not be required, nor excessive fines imposed, nor cruel and unus...
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Earlier this year, Ohio lawmakers empowered workers in the Buckeye State with groundbreaking new legislation that reforms occupational licensing and creates new employment opportunities for thousands of workers. The Buckeye Institute’s efforts were crucial in championing this cause and bringing important reform options to the at...
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In June 2005, the Supreme Court of the United States delivered the infamous ruling in Kelo v. City of New London. Now, thirteen years later, the efforts of Susette Kelo and the Institute for Justice (IJ) — an Atlas Network partner dedicated to defending individual rights in court — will be portrayed in the upcoming feature film...
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United States Attorney General Jeff Sessions and the Department of Justice are set to launch new efforts to increase the federal government’s use of civil asset forfeiture. In response, the Institute for Justice (IJ), an Atlas Network partner, formed a coalition to send a letter to Committee on the Judiciary Charimen Goodlatte a...
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More than a decade ago, the U.S. Supreme Court shocked the nation when it upheld the condemnation of an entire neighborhood in New London, Conn., for “economic development.” This infamous instance of eminent domain abuse sparked a nationwide backlash: 44 states reformed their laws to provide greater protection for property owner...
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Every year Liberty Forum inspires and rejuvenates the individuals in the worldwide freedom movement, and this past weekend was more inspirational than ever. More than anything, there was a palpable connectedness among our partners, our supporters, and various friends and family members. With 58 countries represented, Liberty For...
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Bad economic ideas, myths, and misinformation are continually resuscitated over the years, so it’s not unusual to see them featured prominently in candidate rhetoric during every new election season. Still, it was surprising to see so much support for ideas from self-avowed “democratic socialist” presidential candidate Bernie Sa...
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It’s almost eerie how Milton Friedman had the perfect responses years ago to the outrageous economic claims that Bernie Sanders would make during his U.S. presidential campaign this year. It’s also peculiar that the Australian government is bailing out nearly obsolete industries — why not also bring back the chimney sweep, the t...
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Bone marrow registries rely on the generosity of donors, but far too often that generosity isn’t enough. Lacking the ability to provide incentives that would attract new donors, far too many leukemia patients die each year as they and their families wait for a solution that won’t arrive. What would you do if your child were dyin...
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It’s not always easy to convince people that they should care about other people’s problems — everyone faces their own challenges, and worrying about others instead can seem like a distant priority. The Institute for Justice (IJ), an Atlas Network partner based in Arlington, Va., decided that in order to succeed in its work as a...
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A quality education is crucial for children to succeed in life, but far too many public schools throughout the United States are failing — and kids remain trapped inside a system that doesn’t serve their needs. American Federation for Children (AFC), an Atlas Network partner based in Washington, D.C., is working to change that b...
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Occupational licensing laws almost universally serve to protect entrenched and politically connected interests at the expense of newcomers who may be perfectly qualified to provide a service that paying customers demand. In Ohio, Atlas Network partner The Buckeye Institute has thoroughly documented the destructive effects of occ...
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As Mrs. Maria Mothupi held the official deed to her land for the first time, her face spread into a wide smile. Until she was 99 years old, she had never experienced living in her own home or in a home legally owned by her family, because she was only two years old when the 1913 Land Act banned land ownership by black people in...
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Freedom of association is a fundamental cornerstone of the ideas of liberty, but mandatory union fees for school teachers have long held many of those teachers captive to an ideological system that they don’t support. The U.S. Supreme Court is currently hearing testimony in Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association (CTA), a...
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In order for the judicial system to protect individual rights effectively, it takes judges who understand the ideas of liberty and the constitutional limits of government power. That’s why it’s so exciting that Clint Bolick, vice president for litigation with Atlas Network partner the Goldwater Institute, has been appointed to t...
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You never know where your next big idea will originate — a dynamic speaker, a moving video, an interactive workshop, a chance conversation. Inspiration can arise from almost anywhere, and a primary reason that Atlas Network organizes Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner (LFFD) every year is to facilitate an environment in which there...
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Thousands of leukemia patients die each year because they can’t find a bone marrow match, and this problem is often exacerbated by potential donors who back out at the last minute, frustrating the urgent plans of dying people who have spent years trying to find a match. If somebody you loved was dying, and you had a chance to in...
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Day two of Liberty Forum & Freedom Dinner 2015 featured panels of experts from around the world, book signings from faces of freedom, and culminated with the gala Freedom Dinner.
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For nearly three decades, the Berlin Wall stood as one of the world’s most forbidding symbols of oppression. After years of losing a steady stream of defectors to the West, in 1961 the communist-controlled government of East Germany constructed a heavily guarded barrier that divided an entire city — all in order to prevent their...
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Atlas Network is pleased to present the six finalists for the 2015 Templeton Freedom Award, the winner of which will receive $100,000 and be honored at Atlas Network’s annual Liberty Forum and Freedom Dinner in New York City on Nov. 11–12, 2015.
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The legal system should be a tool that serves to protect the rights of citizens, but when government officials abridge those rights, those who suffer aren’t always in a position to mount a challenge in the courts. The Institute for Justice (IJ), an Atlas Network partner based in Arlington, Va., was named one of six finalists for...
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2015 marks the would-be 100th birthday of Sir Antony Fisher. In this short interview with Chip Mellor, President and General Counsel of the Institute for Justice, he discusses how Fisher’s irrepressible and charming approach had a lasting impact on his career.
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The rights of property owners across the United States are under assault by the rampant use of civil asset forfeiture laws, which grant law enforcement the authority to seize property if it is suspected of being involved in a crime — even if the owner is not charged with a crime, let alone convicted. Under these laws, the proper...
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Officials of the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) have often acted with impunity and, in one heartbreaking recent case, in contravention of the agency’s own policies. Lyndon McLellan, the owner of a convenience store in rural North Carolina had $107,000 seized from his bank account in December because IRS officials suspected him m...
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The key to achieving a free society is, first and foremost, to change the climate of ideas. That’s the lesson that Atlas Network founder Sir Antony Fisher drew from Nobel laureate economist Friedrich Hayek before he abandoned his electoral ambitions to begin work founding and supporting think tanks that would assemble the analyt...
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On March 2, Terry Anderson and Donald Leal of the Property and Environment Research Center (PERC) presented their new book, Free Market Environmentalism for the Next Generation, at a well-attended event hosted by the Hoover Institution at its Washington, D.C., office. The book updates their original Free Market Environmentalism,...
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Hollywood screenwriters, producers, and media pros welcomed this year's class of Lights, Camera, Liberty! participants — think tanks from all over the world committed to creating and distributing high-impact online video — to Santa Monica, Calif., in December for three days of workshops, training, and networking.
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