John Whitehead

Born in a Police State: The Deep State’s Persecution of Its Most Vulnerable Citizens

“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…

We’ve Already Got a Dictator-in-Chief: How Absolute Power Corrupted the President

“He says, ‘You’re not going to be a dictator, are you?’ I said: ‘No, no, no, other than day one. We’re closing the border, and we’re drilling, drilling, drilling. After that, I’m not a dictator.’”—Donald Trump to Sean Hannity…

Public Cautioned About Ancestry DNA Kits & Associated Privacy Risks Posed by Police & Hackers

CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. — In advance of a holiday season that could see record numbers of ancestry kits given as gifts, The Rutherford Institute is cautioning the public about the significant privacy risks associated with corporations, government agencies and…

Bah Humbug: The Police State Wants Us To Be a Nation of Snowflakes

“This boy is Ignorance. This girl is Want. Beware them both, and all of their degree, but most of all beware this boy, for on his brow I see that written which is Doom, unless the writing be…

Rutherford Institute Warns Against Government’s Plan To Ask Households About Sexual Orientation, Gender Identity in Mandatory Survey

WASHINGTON, DC —The Rutherford Institute is sounding a renewed warning against efforts by the government to amass extensive, sensitive private information about individual citizens and their households through its mandatory American Community Survey (ACS). Rutherford Institute attorneys have…

The White House Goes Rogue: Secret Surveillance Program Breaks All the Laws

“We are rapidly entering the age of no privacy, where everyone is open to surveillance at all times; where there are no secrets from government.” — William O. Douglas, dissenting in Osborn v. United States (1966) The government wants us…

What If the Constitution No Longer Applied? Freedom’s Greatest Hour of Danger Is Now

“What if the rights and principles guaranteed in the Constitution have been so distorted in the past 200 years as to be unrecognizable by the Founders? What if the government was the reason we don’t have a Constitution…

We The Exploited: The U.S. Government Buys & Sells Its Citizens For Profit & Power

Americans have become easy prey for hackers, scammers, snitches, spies, and con artists. But don’t be fooled into thinking the government is protecting you. To the contrary, the U.S. government is selling us (or rather, our data) to…

After Fighting for Freedom Abroad, Decorated Gulf War Veteran Is Punished for Exercising His Own Right to Political Free Speech at Home

TALLAHASSEE, Fl. — The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a decorated Gulf War veteran who, after fighting for freedom abroad, was punished for exercising his right to political free speech in his home state of…

Stop Drinking the Political Kool-Aid, America: Voting Will Not Save Us

“We’ve got to face it. Politics have entered a new stage, the television stage. Instead of long-winded public debates, the people want capsule slogans—‘Time for a change’—‘The mess in Washington’—‘More bang for a buck’—punch lines and glamour.”— A Face…

Police in Armored Vehicle Fire Tear Gas at Legal Observers Who Filmed Interaction Between Cops and Protesters

WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Rutherford Institute is calling on the U.S. Supreme Court to hold police accountable for firing tear gas from an armored vehicle at legal observers who were standing in the yard of one of their…

Authoritarians Drunk on Power: It’s Time to Recalibrate the Government

“There is something terribly wrong with this country, isn’t there? Cruelty and injustice, intolerance and oppression. And where once you had the freedom to object, to think and speak as you saw fit, you now have censors and…

Lawsuit Ensues Over Discrimination of a Christian Study Center, Warns That First Amendment Requires Equality for All Religious Beliefs

CHRISTIANSBURG, Va. — The Rutherford Institute has come to the defense of a Christian ministry’s right to be treated equally with other religious and charitable organizations which provide similar services. Through the Bradley Study Center, the Christian Scholars…

Evil Walks Among Us: Monsters with Human Faces Wreak Havoc on Our Freedoms

“But these weren’t the kind of monsters that had tentacles and rotting skin, the kind a seven-year-old might be able to wrap his mind around—they were monsters with human faces, in crisp uniforms, marching in lockstep, so banal…

Postcards from a Police State: 22 Years of Blowback from the USA Patriot Act

“Voice or no voice, the people can always be brought to the bidding of the leaders. All you have to do is tell them they are being attacked and denounce the pacifists for lack of patriotism and exposing…

Guns for Hire: America’s Crisis State Goes Global

“Political parties exist to secure responsible government and to execute the will of the people. From these great staffs, both of the old parties have ganged aside. Instead of instruments to promote the general welfare they have become…

In a Blow to Due Process, Supreme Court Gives Police the Green Light to Misidentify, Arrest and Jail Innocent Americans

WASHINGTON, D.C. — In a blow to due process safeguards that protect Americans against reckless and wrongful arrests by government officials, the U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hold police accountable for misidentifying and wrongly arresting an innocent…