FreedomWorks recently announced the launch of the American Freedom Initiative (AFI), a collaboration headed by former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker. This project aims to help relieve injustices committed against Americans under the criminal justice system and the regulatory state. As part of this project, we will shine a spotlight on some of the individuals the AFI has identified under its National Pardon Project as being particularly hard hit by unjustly harsh criminal sentences for non-violent crimes.

It’s understandable that people are focused on the numbers coming out of the CDC about COVID-19 confirmed cases and deaths. The sickness and deaths are the obvious, heartbreaking tragedy, that which can be seen. But Americans are determined and resilient, which is why our economy has weathered so many tough storms.

Generally, in looking for examples of sound free-market policies, one’s first instinct would probably not be Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer. Yes, the same governor who just last week imposed perhaps the most draconian state-wide quarantine order yet, literally telling Michiganders that they are not even allowed to walk across the street to visit their neighbors except for specifically outlined reasons.

FreedomWorks recently announced the launch of the American Freedom Initiative (AFI), a collaboration headed by former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker. This project aims to help relieve injustices committed against Americans under the criminal justice system and the regulatory state. As part of this project, we will shine a spotlight on some of the individuals the AFI has identified under its National Pardon Project as being particularly hard hit by unjustly harsh criminal sentences for non-violent crimes.

FreedomWorks recently announced the launch of the American Freedom Initiative (AFI), a collaboration headed by former acting U.S. Attorney General Matt Whitaker. This project aims to help relieve injustices committed against Americans under the criminal justice system and the regulatory state. As part of this project, we will shine a spotlight on some of the individuals the AFI has identified under its National Pardon Project as being particularly hard hit by unjustly harsh criminal sentences for non-violent crimes.

If DC traffic levels are any indication, it seems that a lot more people are taking the spread of the coronavirus seriously, which is undoubtedly good. In the media and online, though, the debate rages on whether the overall government response to the virus has been dangerously insufficient or unjustifiably draconian. The opposite poles of public opinion seem to range between demanding a complete, absolute national shelter-in-place shutdown for potentially months and a blasé, “virus? what virus?” approach that equally beggars the imagination.

This week Congress has tackled two important issues that may not seem related at first: reauthorizing an expiring portion of the USA PATRIOT Act and legislating for those affected by COVID-19. But there is one common thread between them - each will have had their passage through the legislature amply lubricated by a potent dose of fear. Decisions made hastily under such pressure are often nigh impossible to reverse after the fact.

As the number of occupations requiring a government-approved license to work has ballooned (one in three jobs require a license, by some estimates), these restrictions serve as a serious barrier to interstate mobility for many small business owners and employees. An encouraging proposal in Georgia seeks to add the Peach State to the list of states which recognize each other’s occupational licenses.