Our newest Huffington Post article on line now.

The second column by our president, James Peron, appears today at Huffington Post. The article is entitled Police Use Licensing Laws to Do End-Run Around Constitution. The article looks at how local police use licensing laws, as well as health and safety regulations, to engage in warrantless searches. The reality is that police are looking for crime but don't want to have to get search warrants mainly because they are engaging in fishing expeditions. This article uses four examples to show how police selectively use these regulations against minorities who have historically been the object of police prejudice: the African-American and gay communities.

The first column was about the bureaucratic nightmare that enveloped Laurent Ghilain and Peter Meurrens as their son was confined to an orphanage because Belgian officials refused to issue a passport for the boy after his birth. The Storey Institute got involved in a successful internet campaign to pressure the Belgian government to change its policies and allow little Samuel to receive his passport so he could go home. Information on that campaign can be found at a Facebook page we established. The article for HP outlined the facts of the case and the ultimate victory as the Belgian government reluctantly issued a passport for Samuel. That article can be found here. According to HP the article was one of the "top posts" for that week and Huffington Post, is one of the most-read web sites in the world.

A column by James Peron should appear once a week depending on final approval by editors. At any time you can see all his articles there by going to this page at HP.

What is the Moorfield Storey Institute?

The classical liberal founders of libertarianism were great advocates of extending social freedom and improving the lives of the most vulnerable in society. Classical liberalism, before Smith’s Wealth of Nations was even written, fought for freedom of conscience and for the separation of church and state.  Classical liberals actively opposed slavery and the slave trade and helped lead the Abolitionist cause. Similarly our philosophical forefathers fought for free trade, not merely because it was more profitable, but because it improved the well-being of the working poor and furthered the cause of world peace. The concentration of power rarely benefits the poor and powerless, but is almost always used to further the interests of the rich and powerful.

Throughout history there has been an intricate and intimate link between economic freedom and social freedoms and equality before the law. True emancipation and equality of rights before the law, are only possible when the economic system is depoliticized within a regime of private property and the rule of law. Libertarian thinking has always had much to contribute to the struggles of the oppressed and marginalized.