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Vermont is poised to become the 30th U.S. state to legalize marijuana for medical or recreational consumption, and the first state to legalize adults’ possession and limited cultivation of marijuana through an act of the legislature, rather than by popular ballot proposition. A bill that would make marijuana legal for adults in Vermont received final approval Wednesday from the Vermont Senate and will soon make its way to the desk of Gov. Phil Scott, who vetoed a similar bill in 2017. In Decem

Nothing is less American than political parties. As a country, we fancy ourselves a meritocracy staffed by conscientious and well-informed voters. But that can’t possibly be true so long as we continue harnessing ourselves to the wheel called partisanship, which turns and turns but goes precisely nowhere. It’s a tragedy when progressive voters must align themselves with the tone-deaf, good-enough Democratic Party. While the Dems busy themselves figuring out how to appease voters without pissin

Supporters of a 2018 ballot initiative to legalize psychedelic mushrooms in California were given the green light by the state attorney general's office earlier this month to circulate petitions and gather signatures. They now have until April 30 to gather and submit 365,880 valid signatures from registered voters in the first state to ever legalize medical marijuana under Proposition 215 in 1996. That ballot proposition, as well as Prop. 64 -- the 2016 voter initiative titled "The Adult Use o

Property rights are fundamental in America – or at least they are supposed to be. Yet each year, prosecutors and law enforcement agencies seize hundreds of millions of dollars’ worth of cars, homes, cash and other property, with no due process to determine guilt or innocence, or even without even filing charges against the property owner. It’s called asset seizure or civil forfeiture, and it’s just wrong. By claiming that you or your property are related to criminal activity, the government j

Update October 3, 2017: The full transcript has been released for the oral argument in Gill v. Whitford. Check out the transcript below. The Supreme Court heard oral argument Tuesday in Gill v. Whitford, a case out of Wisconsin that challenges the state's gerrymandered legislative districts. Gill v. Whitford is significant because it is the first case that a federal court ruled electoral maps unconstitutional not on the basis of race or class discrimination, but political discrimination. The d

Party politics is killing America and Illinois. It is not enough to just elect different people into a bad system. We have to fundamentally change politics, and that starts with real open primaries. The 2016 presidential election has opened the eyes of Americans who are more aware than ever of a rigged political system working against the voters. Americans are fed up with a political party establishment more interested in their side “winning” than in what is best for the country. This toxic b

With Illinois remaining in political and budgetary gridlock, the governor may soon face challenges from within his own party. Governor Bruce Rauner, a Republican elected in 2014, may sign Illinois House Bill 40. If passed, it would provide state funding for abortions through Medicaid and state health insurance programs. The bill also contains a provision to prevent the decriminalization of abortion in Illinois if Roe v. Wade is overturned. The governor this spring indicated he would veto the b

President Donald Trump’s quest for uncovering election fraud may find new life in Illinois. After winning the 2016 election Trump charged that "millions" of people cast illegal votes. In May, Trump issued an executive order forming the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity. With the use of data from states, the commission expects to release a report on voting irregularities by comparing the states with a new federal list. Like many other states, the Illinois State Board of E

"A cancer on our democracy." Those are the words U.S. District Judge James K. Bredar used to describe the two-party gerrymandering scheme going on in Maryland and across the country. A US district court sided with GOP voters Friday, describing Maryland's redistricting process as "nefarious activity." They found sufficient evidence that the Democratic majority drew district boundaries to make it easier to knock out a GOP incumbent and take all, but one congressional seat. It is the second time

ILLINOIS - Political reform in Illinois comes slowly, but one group is renewing the effort to put redistricting back in the hands of the people. After each decennial census, a state’s district maps are redrawn. In most states, politicians draw the boundaries which generally favor the majority party. As in the case of Illinois after 2010, Democrats held the governor’s office and veto-proof majorities in the state legislature. Consequently, they redrew district boundaries without Republican inpu