Some people posit that legalized meth would send the wrong message to people about using meth. However, the government’s role is not to send messages to us about what is right or wrong or good or bad. We don’t need messages from the government. Free people determine for themselves how to run their lives. I have a right to be a self-destructive idiot if I choose. I own me.

Every once in a while, during some hotly contested debate with either a statist or another libertarian, the issue of animal rights arises. Like most libertarians I have met, I quickly and mindlessly dismissed the issue with a terse assertion about how the Principle is simply inapplicable to “animals.”

I cringe to think how many times clients come into my office to discuss their criminal matter with me only to learn they have done possibly irreparable damage to their case. I have found few people who are aware of their constitutional rights.

I don’t represent many clients in misdemeanor cases anymore. Most of my time is spent defending major felony cases. However, once in a while I accept a misdemeanor case that is so obviously an injustice that any prosecutor would immediately dismiss the case; or so I thought.

I suspect when most people pride themselves on loving freedom, they have in mind wimpy concepts like the rights of others to decide for themselves where to go on vacation or what model of automobile to buy. This wimpy concept of freedom doesn’t generate much controversy because most people personally agree with whatever decision another person makes in these areas.

Some people are thugs. As a practicing criminal defense attorney, I sometimes get to meet and talk with thugs. Most of the thugs I represent know they are thugs, and some of them are even proud to be thugs. Most people don’t think of themselves as “thugs.” This is because most thugs don’t realize they are thugs. As with most things, the first step to change is an acknowledgment of the facts. I encourage you to honestly consider whether you are truly a thug.