Mike Fox
@foxmike90.bsky.social
Criminal Justice @CatoInstitute | Human-Companion to Miranda the Husky
Reposted by Mike Fox
The author is a good friend who has spent a lot of time on harm reduction research.
Smoking is bad for you. Nicotine isn't—but politicians keep trying to ban it.
Nicotine is not responsible for the cancers or lung disease caused by combustible tobacco.
reason.com
October 1, 2026 at 8:56 PM
The author is a good friend who has spent a lot of time on harm reduction research.
Reposted by Mike Fox
"Allowing federal agents to turn international travel into an automatic forfeiture of constitutional rights sets a dangerous precedent," @foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org writes.
Opinion | Your privacy rights don’t disappear at the border
Congress or the courts need to make clear that a smartphone is not a suitcase.
wapo.st
August 9, 2026 at 3:44 AM
"Allowing federal agents to turn international travel into an automatic forfeiture of constitutional rights sets a dangerous precedent," @foxmike90.bsky.social of @cato.org writes.
Reposted by Mike Fox
What happens at an airport terminal or border crossing when the government demands access to your phone? "Handing over a password under duress can yield self-incriminating evidence. Resisting, however, exposes the traveler to escalation." From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social:
Opinion | U.S. customs officers want your password? It’s an insidious trap.
Your privacy rights don’t disappear at the border.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 7, 2026 at 6:46 PM
What happens at an airport terminal or border crossing when the government demands access to your phone? "Handing over a password under duress can yield self-incriminating evidence. Resisting, however, exposes the traveler to escalation." From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social:
Reposted by Mike Fox
I obtained records revealing another Border Patrol agent is under investigation for the killing of an unarmed Mexican man who, according to CBP, was trying to get back to Mexico on foot. I worked with @texastribune.org's @lomikriel.bsky.social to get a fuller story... www.cato.org/blog/new-doc...
New Docs Show Another Border Patrol Agent Under Investigation for Killing
Custom and Border Protection’s pronouncement accepting the officer’s self-defense claim should carry little weight given the extensive record of agents lying to their supervisors about assaults.
www.cato.org
August 6, 2026 at 2:56 PM
I obtained records revealing another Border Patrol agent is under investigation for the killing of an unarmed Mexican man who, according to CBP, was trying to get back to Mexico on foot. I worked with @texastribune.org's @lomikriel.bsky.social to get a fuller story... www.cato.org/blog/new-doc...
Reposted by Mike Fox
A thread on how U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) wargamed an Insurrection Act invocation scenario just five weeks after Trump's second inauguration...and how subsequent DoD actions raise the specter of military involvement in connection with the 2026 midterms.
August 4, 2026 at 10:21 PM
A thread on how U.S. Northern Command (NORTHCOM) wargamed an Insurrection Act invocation scenario just five weeks after Trump's second inauguration...and how subsequent DoD actions raise the specter of military involvement in connection with the 2026 midterms.
One of many reasons I stopped drinking!
Research shows that over time, alcohol can change the brain.
And even relatively low levels of alcohol may worsen feelings of anxiety and depression, disrupt sleep, and, over time, increase dementia risk, in addition to upping other health problems.
And even relatively low levels of alcohol may worsen feelings of anxiety and depression, disrupt sleep, and, over time, increase dementia risk, in addition to upping other health problems.
Column | Here's what happens to your brain when you stop drinking alcohol
Though even relatively low levels of drinking can cause harm, the brain can recover to an extent if you stop or cut back, evidence shows.
www.washingtonpost.com
August 4, 2026 at 9:52 PM
One of many reasons I stopped drinking!
Reposted by Mike Fox
A week after Trump issued his "national emergency" proclamation for the southern border, the military began planning for a potential invocation of the Insurrection Act & much more. Another major #FOIA get, out now. cc: @radleybalko.bsky.social @cjciaramella.bsky.social
www.cato.org/blog/northco...
www.cato.org/blog/northco...
August 3, 2026 at 3:10 PM
A week after Trump issued his "national emergency" proclamation for the southern border, the military began planning for a potential invocation of the Insurrection Act & much more. Another major #FOIA get, out now. cc: @radleybalko.bsky.social @cjciaramella.bsky.social
www.cato.org/blog/northco...
www.cato.org/blog/northco...
Reposted by Mike Fox
NYPD not only harvests DNA from adults charged with crimes, but surreptitiously gathers it from those merely being questioned, even choosing to trick children. Second Circuit should protect privacy rights by requiring a warrant. [Matthew Cavedon on Cato amicus brief in Leslie v. City of New York]
Leslie v. City of New York Brief: NYC's "Suspect Index" of Secretly Harvested DNA Is Unconstitutional
The NYPD routinely collects DNA samples in an orchestrated surreptitious manner through ruses involving straws, bottles, or even cigarettes, without the knowledge or consent of the searched individual...
www.cato.org
August 2, 2026 at 11:59 PM
NYPD not only harvests DNA from adults charged with crimes, but surreptitiously gathers it from those merely being questioned, even choosing to trick children. Second Circuit should protect privacy rights by requiring a warrant. [Matthew Cavedon on Cato amicus brief in Leslie v. City of New York]
Reposted by Mike Fox
People need to start getting disbarred for this shit.
The Justice Department is admitting that a $14 million renovation on the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool in Washington, DC, was flawed, and is dropping the criminal case against a former Olympian that accused him of damaging the pool, according to a new court filing. https://cnn.it/3RJJnwj
July 31, 2026 at 10:40 PM
People need to start getting disbarred for this shit.
Reposted by Mike Fox
DOJ’s refusal to prosecute or even investigate ICE abuse is significant, @foxmike90.bsky.social, “a legal policy scholar at @cato.org, told TMD. ‘DOJ is sending [DHS] a powerful message that what you’re doing is not only acceptable, but we are encouraging it.’”
Will Blanche Be Confirmed?
Plus: Russia launches deadly attacks across Ukraine, U.S. economic growth slows, and no robot dogs on flights.
thedispatch.com
July 31, 2026 at 9:52 PM
DOJ’s refusal to prosecute or even investigate ICE abuse is significant, @foxmike90.bsky.social, “a legal policy scholar at @cato.org, told TMD. ‘DOJ is sending [DHS] a powerful message that what you’re doing is not only acceptable, but we are encouraging it.’”
Reposted by Mike Fox
Tim Bakken, West Point's longest-serving law professor, says officials never tried to silence him — until Trump’s second presidency, when the military academy revised its faculty speech rules.
In September, he sued West Point in federal court.
In September, he sued West Point in federal court.
After Trump’s order, West Point curbed faculty speech. One professor said no.
Tim Bakken argues that the Pentagon's attempt to stifle what teachers can say and write makes the military more susceptible to bad decisions.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 26, 2026 at 3:30 PM
Tim Bakken, West Point's longest-serving law professor, says officials never tried to silence him — until Trump’s second presidency, when the military academy revised its faculty speech rules.
In September, he sued West Point in federal court.
In September, he sued West Point in federal court.
Reposted by Mike Fox
Does your state *still* follow the felony murder rule?
In 39 states, people can be sentenced to life for murders they did not commit
The Sentencing Project highlights the perverse consequences of the felony murder rule, a vestige of British law that still prevails in federal courts and all but two states.
reason.com
July 25, 2026 at 11:52 PM
Does your state *still* follow the felony murder rule?
Reposted by Mike Fox
If illegal immigrants could destabilize the financial system, it shouldn't be debanking them AND deporting them. The fact that it's doing exactly what it says would cause instability proves it 1) doesn't believe its own claims or, frighteningly, 2) that it might not care!
July 24, 2026 at 8:19 PM
If illegal immigrants could destabilize the financial system, it shouldn't be debanking them AND deporting them. The fact that it's doing exactly what it says would cause instability proves it 1) doesn't believe its own claims or, frighteningly, 2) that it might not care!
Reposted by Mike Fox
In Texas, a Border Patrol agent was just indicted by a local grand jury for aggravated assault for running down a migrant with his car on January 31, 2025.
Video from a homeowner showed the agent driving straight into a man who was calmly walking on the side of the road. myrgv.com/local-news/2...
Video from a homeowner showed the agent driving straight into a man who was calmly walking on the side of the road. myrgv.com/local-news/2...
myrgv.com
July 23, 2026 at 12:47 PM
In Texas, a Border Patrol agent was just indicted by a local grand jury for aggravated assault for running down a migrant with his car on January 31, 2025.
Video from a homeowner showed the agent driving straight into a man who was calmly walking on the side of the road. myrgv.com/local-news/2...
Video from a homeowner showed the agent driving straight into a man who was calmly walking on the side of the road. myrgv.com/local-news/2...
Reposted by Mike Fox
Wondering about how radical Trump's changes to the federal work force might be? So was GAO. Then OPM told them to go pound salt. My latest, out now.
OPM to GAO: Take A Hike
The OPM report is worth reading not for its numbers but for its final admission: the audit arm of Congress asked a cabinet-level agency to explain itself, and was met with outright refusal.
www.cato.org
July 21, 2026 at 4:14 PM
Wondering about how radical Trump's changes to the federal work force might be? So was GAO. Then OPM told them to go pound salt. My latest, out now.
Reposted by Mike Fox
New at The Watch:
More on how and why Democrats should make it possible for victims and their families to sue Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and other political appointees for violence inflicted by immigration agents.
More on how and why Democrats should make it possible for victims and their families to sue Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and other political appointees for violence inflicted by immigration agents.
Suing Stephen Miller
It's time to put everyone from Stephen Miller and Tom Homan to the most recent ICE hire on notice: a reckoning is coming
radleybalko.substack.com
July 20, 2026 at 3:23 PM
New at The Watch:
More on how and why Democrats should make it possible for victims and their families to sue Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and other political appointees for violence inflicted by immigration agents.
More on how and why Democrats should make it possible for victims and their families to sue Stephen Miller, Tom Homan, and other political appointees for violence inflicted by immigration agents.
Reposted by Mike Fox
Moving essay from the mother of Ruben Ray Martinez, the first person killed by federal officers during this administration. He too was shot while driving, and after he was given conflicting orders. They also lied about him "weaponizing" his car.
Opinion | My Son Was Killed by ICE. I Want Accountability.
I deserve accountability and transparency, and so does the public.
www.nytimes.com
July 20, 2026 at 3:41 PM
Moving essay from the mother of Ruben Ray Martinez, the first person killed by federal officers during this administration. He too was shot while driving, and after he was given conflicting orders. They also lied about him "weaponizing" his car.
Reposted by Mike Fox
He’d rather mourn the dead ICE agents in his imagination than show an ounce of sympathy for the people his agents have killed.
Also, if an ICE agent ever needs to be buried, I’d give it even odds that it will be because they were mistakenly shot by another agent.
Also, if an ICE agent ever needs to be buried, I’d give it even odds that it will be because they were mistakenly shot by another agent.
Homan: "I said this a year ago -- if they hateful rhetoric doesn't stop there will be bloodshed. And unfortunately I was right. And I'll tell you something else -- it's not over yet ... I'm afraid we're gonna bury an ICE agent."
July 20, 2026 at 6:15 PM
He’d rather mourn the dead ICE agents in his imagination than show an ounce of sympathy for the people his agents have killed.
Also, if an ICE agent ever needs to be buried, I’d give it even odds that it will be because they were mistakenly shot by another agent.
Also, if an ICE agent ever needs to be buried, I’d give it even odds that it will be because they were mistakenly shot by another agent.
Reposted by Mike Fox
"Homan is admitting what the record shows: ICE has been endangering its officers and others for no enforcement benefit. Ending vehicle stops won’t end all the problems, or even all the deaths. But continuing them means more danger for ICE personnel and the public."
www.cato.org/commentary/t...
www.cato.org/commentary/t...
Trump’s Order to Resume ICE Traffic Stops Means More Danger for the Public
Even his own immigration czar admits that permanently ending the stops would better protect ICE agents, their targets and the public.
www.cato.org
July 20, 2026 at 2:58 PM
"Homan is admitting what the record shows: ICE has been endangering its officers and others for no enforcement benefit. Ending vehicle stops won’t end all the problems, or even all the deaths. But continuing them means more danger for ICE personnel and the public."
www.cato.org/commentary/t...
www.cato.org/commentary/t...
Reposted by Mike Fox
As for Trump's assertion that 278,000 noncitizens are on the voting rolls in 4 states:
1) it's fiction;
2) Trump has every reason to know it's fiction, given the uniform experience by which speculative database comparisons of this sort in the past have invariably melted away on closer inspection.
1) it's fiction;
2) Trump has every reason to know it's fiction, given the uniform experience by which speculative database comparisons of this sort in the past have invariably melted away on closer inspection.
Trump says 278,000 noncitizens are on voting rolls. Experts say that’s wrong.
The claim came as the Trump administration vowed to withhold funding from states that don’t participate in federal programs purporting to secure elections.
www.washingtonpost.com
July 19, 2026 at 2:43 PM
As for Trump's assertion that 278,000 noncitizens are on the voting rolls in 4 states:
1) it's fiction;
2) Trump has every reason to know it's fiction, given the uniform experience by which speculative database comparisons of this sort in the past have invariably melted away on closer inspection.
1) it's fiction;
2) Trump has every reason to know it's fiction, given the uniform experience by which speculative database comparisons of this sort in the past have invariably melted away on closer inspection.
Reposted by Mike Fox
When the White House counsel is the declassification authority, the agenda is entirely political.
July 17, 2026 at 1:16 AM
When the White House counsel is the declassification authority, the agenda is entirely political.
Reposted by Mike Fox
From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social: State and local authorities aren’t powerless bystanders when ICE kills. Even if they cannot dictate how federal agents operate within their boundaries, Houston Mayor John Whitmire should be ordering a city-led investigation and taking other steps.
Mayor Whitmire Is Wrong. Local Officials Can -- and Must -- Stand Up to ICE
Local authorities have the legal authority — and the moral obligation — to resist lethal federal overreach on city streets.
www.cato.org
July 16, 2026 at 2:03 PM
From my colleague @foxmike90.bsky.social: State and local authorities aren’t powerless bystanders when ICE kills. Even if they cannot dictate how federal agents operate within their boundaries, Houston Mayor John Whitmire should be ordering a city-led investigation and taking other steps.
Reposted by Mike Fox
Officers shooting a man, running away from law enforcement, who is not a target of law enforcement, and who poses no threat to law enforcement, is murder.
Federal officers do not have the power to commit summary executions because they are aggrieved.
Federal officers do not have the power to commit summary executions because they are aggrieved.
July 14, 2026 at 11:59 AM
Officers shooting a man, running away from law enforcement, who is not a target of law enforcement, and who poses no threat to law enforcement, is murder.
Federal officers do not have the power to commit summary executions because they are aggrieved.
Federal officers do not have the power to commit summary executions because they are aggrieved.
Reposted by Mike Fox
WHOA DHS does not say that the agent feared for his life… just the vague concern for “public safety.” So he killed him just because he did not want him in America, not because of any specific threat to agents?
July 13, 2026 at 11:34 PM
WHOA DHS does not say that the agent feared for his life… just the vague concern for “public safety.” So he killed him just because he did not want him in America, not because of any specific threat to agents?
Reposted by Mike Fox
We‘re one executive order away from a chocolate fountain.
July 11, 2026 at 12:50 PM
We‘re one executive order away from a chocolate fountain.