In December 2021, sheriff’s deputies in Fort Bend County, Texas, arrested Justin Pulliam for interfering with a police officer. Justin had been filming the officers while they made a mental-health call. He was located 130 feet from the scene, where other bystanders were also watching what was happening. With the help of the Institute for…
When Gov. Greg Abbott recently iterated his support for school choice, the state’s teacher’s union argued that school choice already exists in Texas. However, there is a vast difference between the “choices” the union points to and true freedom of choice. For example, one former teacher said, The reality is there’s already a choice. Lubbock…
The opponents of rent control rarely take a moral stand on the issue. They fail to identify rent control as a violation of the right to property—the freedom to produce and trade. Instead, they focus on economic arguments. Rent control, they say, discourages the production of housing and makes maintenance more difficult. While these arguments…
President Biden recently provided an “accidental endorsement” of school choice. In an attempt to criticize Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis’ education policies, Biden tweeted, I think every kid, in every zip code, in every state should have access to every education opportunity possible. I guess, for some, that isn’t the consensus view. Biden is correct that…
Opponents of school choice argue that, because private schools do not have to accept all students, vouchers will lead to two very different education systems. Few schools, they claim, will accept special needs students or children from poor families. Consequently, these students will have no alternative to government schools at the same time that those…
In early February, a Florida judge upheld an a provision in the Destin city charter that limits buildings to a height of six stories. The city had been sued by the Destin Fishing Fleet Inc. which claimed that the value of its property value had been diminished. The city called the ruling “a landmark private…
A recent survey by the University of Houston Hobby School of Public Affairs found that 61 percent of Texans favor school choice, but only 53 percent support applying such a policy to all Texas families. In short, while a majority of Texans favor school choice, a significant number think such policies should be based on…
With school choice gaining support in Texas, defenders of government schools are unleashing a media blitz. No matter the details of their articles and speeches, it always comes down to a claim that more money is needed for government schools to achieve acceptable results. As an example, the President of the Houston Federation of Teachers,…
We often hear complaints about the manner in which police officers enforce certain laws. For example, in Georgia, police arrested Jeff Gray for holding a sign declaring “God bless the homeless vets” in front the Alpharetta City Hall. An attorney for The Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE), which is representing Gray, said, “If…
In early January, fifty Democrat members of Congress sent a letter to President Biden. The letter urged him to “to pursue all possible strategies to end corporate price gouging in the real estate Sector….” The letter recommends seven actions Biden can take. Among the most significant is directing the Federal Housing Finance Agency to establish…
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis recently announced a proposal for a state law to permanently prohibit vaccine passports, forbid businesses from requiring masks, and prohibit “employers from hiring or firing based mRNA stabs.” In making the announcement, DeSantis said that during the pandemic Florida has served “strongly as freedom’s linchpin.” DeSantis has an Orwellian view of…
In late January, Walmart, the nation’s largest private employer, announced that it will raise its minimum wage to $14 an hour. Other companies, such as Amazon and Target have a minimum wage of $15, while Costco starts employees at $17 an hour. These businesses are raising wages in order to attract employees in a tight…