Reason magazine - February 2025

In this issue

Rise of the ‘Constitutional Sheriffs’
C.J. CIARAMELLA
The Highest Law in the Land: How the Unchecked Power of Sheriffs Threatens Democracy, by Jessica Pishko
The Power of the Badge: Sheriffs and Inequality in the United States, by Emily M. Farris and Mirya R. Holman

Pulp Pleasure and Political Propaganda
EVE TUSHNET
Revolution in 35mm: Political Violence and Resistance in Cinema From the Arthouse to the Grindhouse, 1960–1990, edited by Andrew Nette and Samm Deighan

Election Reforms Blocked by Elections

SEVERAL PROPOSED ELECTION reforms on the 2024 ballot offered promising solutions: Reduce the power of partisan primaries, ensure more robust competition in general elections, and increase the likelihood that winning campaigns represent the median voter rather than a lesser-of-two-evils result.

3 mins

The Banks Are Narcing on You

WALKING INTO A bank feels like walking into any other business. Sure, there are a few extra cameras and an armed guard or two, but otherwise, it's a typical experience.

3 mins

The Case of Robert Roberson

LAST FALL, AN extraordinary legal drama played out in Texas that shook the foun-dations of the death penalty in a state that still stands for hang-'em-high justice.Hours before he was scheduled to become the first person in the country to be executed based on evidence of what used to be called \"shaken baby syndrome,\" Texas death row inmate Robert Roberson was granted an unprecedented reprieve when a state House committee subpoenaed him to testify before it.

3 mins

The SEC's War on NFTS

SHOULD ARTISTS HAVE to file paperwork with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) just to sell their own creations? Should they be required to warn buyers that art values might fluctuate?

3 mins

Setbacks for Drug Policy Reform

IN 2016, 2018, 2020, and 2022, voters approved a raft of drug policy reforms.

3 mins

It's Still the Economy, Stupid

LEADING UP TO the 2024 election, pundits, pollsters, and political operatives discussed the electorate as a bundle of distinct race and gender categories, sometimes with even narrower subcategorizations attached. How would black women vote? What about Latino men? Suburban, college-educated women?

3 mins

Rancher Jailed for Cloning Giant Sheep

MONTANA RANCHER ARTHUR “Jack”Schubarth, 81, succeeded in cloning a wild Marco Polo argali sheep, the world’s largest ovine species. That achievement cost him six months in jail.

3 mins

The Fragile U.S. Refugee Resettlement System

IN FY 2024, the U.S. resettled 100,034 refugees—the highest number in 30 years and about nine times the number resettled in FY 2021. The 2024 tally is a reason to celebrate and a reminder that refugee resettlement is highly subject to presidential whims.

2 mins

Q&A Penny Lane

PENNY LANE'S NEW Netflix documentary, Confessions of a Good Samaritan, delves into her life-changing decision to donate a kidney to a stranger. Known for her thoughtful and provocative storytelling, Lane has explored human connection and empathy in films such as Hail Satan? and The Pain of Others. Last October she spoke with Reason's Nick Gillespie and shared her emotional, physical, and philosophical experience with anonymous kidney donation and the challenges that came with it.

2 mins

Educulture Wars

THE CULTURE WAR is costing school districts billions, according to a report released in October 2024 by the UCLA Institute for Democracy, Education, and Access. The report surveyed superintendents at 467 school districts nationwide about extra expenditures they undertook because of increased conflict over culture war issues such as critical race theory, book chal- lenges, gender-related debates, and other politicized topics. The report estimates that such fights cost school districts around $3.2 billion during the 2023-2024 school year.

1 min

A Free-Range Family

RIGHT NOW, CHILDHOOD is intensely meh. Maybe you read the recent report in The Journal of Pediatrics that said that as kids' independence and free play have gone down, their anxiety and depression have been going up.

3 mins

THE IMPROBABLE RISE OF MAGA-MUSK

IS ELON MUSK A REACTIONARY WITHA DEFECTIVE BULLSHIT METER OR THE BEST PART OF THE SECOND TRUMP ADMINISTRATION?

10+ mins

HOW MUSK CAN HELP TRUMP CUT TRILLIONS

DURING PRESIDENT DONALD Trump’s first term in office, the national debt increased by $8 trillion—due, in large part, to huge spending hikes that Congress passed and Trump signed.

5 mins

'NOT A SUICIDE PACT'

HOW A 1949 SUPREME COURT DISSENT GAVE BIRTH TO A MEME THAT SUBVERTS FREE SPEECH AND CIVIL LIBERTIES

10+ mins

MATERIEL LOSS

HOW THE U.S. MILITARY BUSTS ITS BUDGET ON WASTEFUL, CARELESS, AND UNNECESSARY 'SELF-LICKING ICE CREAM CONES'

10+ mins

'THE POLITICS HAVE COME TO US'

HOW A CHRISTIAN CHARITY IN EL PASO ENDED UP AT WAR WITH THE TEXAS GOVERNMENT FOR HELPING UNDOCUMENTED IMMIGRANTS

10+ mins

Against Our Own Best Souls'

SISTER HELEN PREJEAN ON HERLIFE ASA WITNESS ON DEATH ROW

10+ mins

THE REAL THREAT IS AN ISOLATED CHINA

DECOUPLING FROM TRADE WILL MAKE THE U.S. POORER AND CHINA MORE TOTALITARIAN.

10+ mins

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