Donald Trump

Steven Greenhut | 6.14.2024 7:45 AM

As a general rule in politics and public policy, I'd suggest applying one's principles as consistently as possible. It's hard to be taken seriously if, say, you want the feds to prosecute your political opponents on some ill-defined charges—and then complain about the "weaponization" of the justice system when you or your allies are in the dock. Just saying.

One of my oft-stated warnings for those, on the Left or Right, who advocate for new laws, more regulation, and broader powers for police agencies: First consider how these powers might be wielded in the hands of your enemies. Many "well-intentioned" laws have been twisted in ways that the authors never envisioned. Sometimes the reasons are nefarious, other times the result of bureaucratic inertia.

During the 1980s War on Drugs, the U.S. Department of Justice created civil asset forfeiture laws that empowered the government to grab the property of drug cartels. It quickly became a means for police agencies to steal cars and cash from ordinary Americans, many of whom had never been convicted of or accused of a crime. The criminal justice reform movement has been trying to reform those and other unjust laws for years, but governments are amazingly resistant to........

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