News – Politics – Opinion – Podcasts
John W. and Nisha Whitehead 
The Supreme Court is being asked to decide whether the government may search the digital contents of Americans’ cell phones at the border and international airports without first providing a valid reason and obtaining a warrant. The federal government has long exercised broad authority to conduct searches at the nation’s international borders and airports. Historically, … Read more
What’s the point in celebrating the Constitution one day a year if we permit the government to violate it the other 364? September 17 marked the anniversary of the signing of the U.S. Constitution, a document designed not merely to establish a government but to restrain it. Yet restraint is in increasingly short supply. Across … Read more
Most Americans assume that if they are ever charged with a serious crime, they will be judged by a jury of twelve fellow citizens. That is how the right to trial by jury has been understood for most of American history. But that protection has been shrinking, like so many of the rights enshrined in … Read more
PORT ST JOE, Fla. — The Rutherford Institute is urging the City of Port St. Joe, Fla., to work with a local business owner to find a prompt, practical resolution to a dispute involving a proposed 18-foot cross display on private property. Drawing on more than four decades of experience helping citizens and public officials … Read more
“You had to live—did live, from habit that became instinct—in the assumption that every sound you made was overheard, and, except in darkness, every movement scrutinized.”—George Orwell, 1984 While Americans remain transfixed by the political circus—cheering for their preferred party, jeering at the opposition, obsessing over every manufactured outrage and waiting for the next spectacle—the Surveillance … Read more
Rutherford Urges Supreme Court to Block Police Use of Dragnet Cell Phone Surveillance WASHINGTON, DC — In the digital age, simply having a smartphone in your pocket can lead to the government collecting your data to investigate you as a suspect for a crime. That is the constitutional danger posed by geofence warrants—sweeping surveillance orders … Read more
“When did pedophilia become a partisan issue? The American people deserve to know the whole truth about Jeffrey Epstein and every single powerful person who enabled him. Every name, every flight log, every cover up, all of it … If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on Democrats and Republicans, conservatives and … Read more
…To Sidestep Scrutiny for Misconduct Leading to Use of Deadly Force In a unanimous decision, the U.S. Supreme Court has rejected a legal doctrine that helped shield police from accountability for recklessly escalating confrontations and then using deadly force. The Supreme Court’s ruling in Barnes v. Felix makes clear that when determining whether an officer’s use of deadly force … Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court has agreed to hear a case that could determine whether FBI agents can be held accountable for a botched SWAT raid that terrorized an innocent family in the middle of the night. As detailed in Martin v. United States, a heavily armed FBI SWAT team mistakenly stormed a Georgia home—armed with rifles, … Read more
…Out of School Curriculum Promoting Alternative Ideas About Sexuality and Gender? Should parents have the right to opt their elementary-aged children out of mandatory public school curriculum that promotes alternative ideas about gender and sexuality? In a joint amicus brief in Mahmoud v. Taylor, The Rutherford Institute and the NC Values Institute have asked the U.S. Supreme … Read more
“At least when there’s an evil dictator, that human is going to die. But for an AI, there would be no death. It would live forever. And then you’d have an immortal dictator from which we can never escape.”—Elon Musk (2018) Get ready for Surveillance State 2.0. To achieve this turbocharged surveillance state, the government is … Read more
We have become a nation adrift in a sea of government overreach, abuse and corruption. The following is a sobering account of the challenges we faced in 2024, which were marked by the government’s never-ending power grabs and relentless assaults on our civil liberties. 2024 saw a continued rise in government overreach and abuse of … Read more
When the song of the angels is stilled, when the star in the sky is gone, when the kings and princes are home, when the shepherds are back with their flocks, the work of Christmas begins: to find the lost, to heal the broken, to feed the hungry, to release the prisoner, to rebuild the … Read more
In the 30 years since the Crime Bill fueled the militarization of police and the explosive growth of SWAT teams, SWAT teams continue to terrorize innocent homeowners and then receive qualified immunity from the courts. In an amicus brief in Jimerson v. Lewis, The Rutherford Institute has called on the U.S. Supreme Court to hold a law … Read more
Based on Mere Suspicion That a Probationer Lives Within The Rutherford Institute has called on the U.S. Supreme Court to protect homeowners from warrantless searches by police based merely on a suspicion that a person on probation or parole resides on the premises. Institute attorneys warn that if the Arkansas Supreme Court’s ruling in Bailey v. Arkansas is permitted … Read more
As part of its annual effort to clear up much of the legal misunderstanding over the do’s and don’ts of celebrating Christmas, The Rutherford Institute has issued a Constitutional Q&A on the ‘Twelve Rules of Christmas,’ which provides basic guidelines for lawfully celebrating Christmas in schools, workplaces and elsewhere. Over the years, The Rutherford Institute has been … Read more
You’d better watch out—you’d better not pout—you’d better not cry—‘cos I’m telling you why: this Christmas, it’s the Surveillance State that’s making a list and checking it twice, and it won’t matter whether you’ve been bad or good. You’ll be on this list whether you like it or not. Mass surveillance is the Deep State’s version of … Read more
The U.S. Supreme Court is sending a chilling message to gun owners when it comes to encounters with police: comply or die. In refusing to hear an appeal in Argueta v. Jaradi, the Supreme Court is allowing a lower court ruling to stand, which threatens to erode Fourth Amendment protections against unreasonable use of force by … Read more
This is how it always begins, justified in the name of national security. Mass roundups. Raids. Indefinite detentions in concentration camps. Martial law. The erosion of habeas corpus protections. The suspension of the Constitution, at least for select segments of the population. A hierarchy of rights, contingent on whether you belong to a favored political class. This … Read more
After months of handwringing and mud-slinging and fear-mongering, the votes have finally been cast, and the outcome has been decided