Billy Binion
@billybinion.bsky.social
Journalist. Criminal justice & government accountability. Yes, this is my real name.
This story is a nightmare. Texas cops fired dozens of tear gas grenades into an innocent woman's home. They smashed windows and drove through her front door. Her daughter's dog went deaf & blind. Then the city left her with the bill. Six years later, her saga is finally coming to an end. A thread.
Viktor Orban is one of the most corrupt living politicians. He cozied up to Putin, expanded & packed the Supreme Court with loyalists, crippled economic growth with central planning & political favors, and killed media outlets for criticizing him. Amazing news for Hungarians.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 4mo agoBREAKING: Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orbán concedes defeat to Peter Magyar after "painful" election result, ending 16 years in power.
A lot of people clearly did not read the decision. The ruling doesn't endorse conversion therapy. It says laws that explicitly discriminate based on viewpoint are constitutionally suspect. That's it. The First Amendment doesn't just protect ideas you like.
Governor Gavin Newsom@governor.ca.gov · 4mo agoConversion therapy is discredited junk science that inflicts harm on LGBTQ youth. The Supreme Court’s decision is disappointing and puts vulnerable kids at risk.
We overhauled and nationalized airport security after 9/11 out of a psychological need to Do Something bit and showy, not because it was actually necessary or, really, made any sense.
Billy Binion@billybinion.bsky.social · 4mo agoI waited nearly 3.5 hours in a TSA line—and *still* almost missed my flight. The ability to get home shouldn’t hinge on Congress doing its job. Why are we still tolerating this? Nothing has made a better case for abolishing the TSA than this shutdown. I wrote about it: reason.com/2026/03/26/i...
I waited nearly 3.5 hours in a TSA line—and *still* almost missed my flight. The ability to get home shouldn’t hinge on Congress doing its job. Why are we still tolerating this? Nothing has made a better case for abolishing the TSA than this shutdown. I wrote about it: reason.com/2026/03/26/i...
I spent over 3 hours in a TSA line. Why haven't we abolished this agency?
The ability to get home should not be a privilege that is contingent on politicians or the political moment.
reason.com
This article epitomizes why I stopped taking the Oscars seriously. It highlights Chalamet’s (correct) opera/ballet comments and his general ~vibe~ as emblematic of why he lost. Which is to say: it’s not about merit. It’s about who runs the best campaign. Endlessly silly.
New York Magazine@nymag.com · 5mo agoTimothée Chalamet was considered the frontrunner for most of the season. What happened?
I used to work at an opera company. Paychecks bounced—because there were times when they had $0 in the bank. Glib phrasing aside, Timothée Chalamet was right: few people care about opera. Absurd that there’s international furor because an actor said a benign fact. www.thefp.com/p/im-a-forme...
Kristi Noem smeared dead Americans as “domestic terrorists.” She sent some asylum seekers to a third-world prison without due process. She spent hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars promoting herself. Taxpayers paid her while she lied to them. That's her legacy.
Delcy Rodríguez is a dictator with a horrible history of violating human rights btw reason.com/2026/01/06/w...
Venezuela's acting dictator is Delcy Rodríguez, a Maduro regime ally with a history of human rights violations
Trump chose to work with a sanctioned regime insider accused of human rights abuses and cartel ties rather than the elected opposition.
reason.com
My favorite quote from Trump is when she said he cut drug prices by 600 percent which would mean companies would be THROWING money at us to take drugs lol
The tariffs are not, in fact, paid for by foreign countries. Virtually every economist agrees they are paid for by Americans, because that is how businesses pass down costs. It's basic economics. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
A reminder that Donald Trump had very little—if nothing—to do with lowering the national crime rate. It started plunging in mid-2023. No one knows why. Finding the actual answer should be important to everyone. reason.com/podcast/2026...
What the media gets wrong about crime
Crime analyst Jeff Asher explains the historic decline in murders, why Americans distrust crime statistics, and what the data actually show about public safety.
reason.com
This is really sad. Anyone who has a friend or family member with Tourette's (as I do) knows it can make you blurt things you expressly *don't* want to say. The reflexive victimhood & lack of compassion here are pitiful.
New York Magazine@nymag.com · 5mo agoJonte Richardson says he will no longer be a judge for the BAFTAs, calling the awards show’s handling of the Tourette’s slur incident “utterly unforgivable.”
Whatever your views on trade, the idea that Trump needed to impose tariffs to address an “emergency” was always transparently ridiculous. He’s been unilaterally raising taxes on Americans based on his mood or who offends him.
Mark Joseph Stern@mjsdc.bsky.social · 6mo agoBREAKING: The Supreme Court STRIKES DOWN Trump's "emergency" tariffs. The vote is 6–3. www.supremecourt.gov/opinions/25p...
Hard to think of a story more pundits misunderstand. Kilmar Abrego Garcia *agreed to be deported*—months ago—to Costa Rica, which accepted. The admin refuses & is insisting on sending him to various African countries, which declined. He's still here because of the government.
The Associated Press@apnews.com · 6mo agoBREAKING: The U.S. can't take Kilmar Abrego Garcia back into immigration custody because it doesn't have a viable plan to deport him, judge says.
Stop worshiping whoever is in the Oval Office. Presidents aren't all-knowing beings worth changing your principles for. They aren't your friends. And they shouldn't be your personality trait. They're your employees. reason.com/2021/02/15/o...
On This Presidents Day, Stop Worshiping the Imperial Presidency
Ah, Presidents Day: a much-needed moment to slow down and commemorate presidents past and present, because we definitely don't have…
reason.com
Insane. Cops in this Alabama town systemically slapped people with fake traffic violations & bogus charges to bankroll the government—fines & forfeitures made up *50 percent* of the town budget, totaling $487 per person. Policing for profit. reason.com/2026/02/11/a...
A tiny Alabama town ran an outrageous speed trap. Now it will pay $1.5 million to settle a lawsuit.
Brookside, Alabama, made national news in 2022 after investigations revealed it was bankrolling itself through predatory traffic enforcement.
reason.com
This is why it’s funny that the White House keeps taking credit for crime falling. The decline was already noticeable in 2024, and Trump said that data was “ridiculous” and “a lie.” Now the numbers are magically reliable. That’s…not how this works. reason.com/2026/02/10/i...
In 2024, Trump rejected numbers showing a homicide drop as a 'lie.' Now he is bragging about them.
While running against Kamala Harris, Trump claimed homicides were "skyrocketing," disregarding the data contradicting that assertion.
reason.com
Trump keeps taking credit for the murder decline. But crime started plunging in 2023—long before he returned to office. It’s falling in red & blue areas alike, because presidents don't control crime. The real story: no one actually knows why it's collapsing. Everyone should want the answer.
Reason Magazine@reason.com · 6mo agoThe decline in murders is noteworthy, but it is not especially surprising, given recent trends.
This man got 20 years in prison for saying things the government didn’t like. He’s 78, so that’s a death sentence. I wrote about why everyone should know who Jimmy Lai is: reason.com/2026/02/09/j...
Jimmy Lai got a 20-year sentence for saying things the Chinese government didn't like
China's 'national security law' was tailored to zero in on someone like Lai, who pushed for democracy, freedom of speech, and government reform.
reason.com
Hard to overstate how big a loss Rumeysa Ozturk’s case is for the Trump admin. Immigration court is an extension of the executive. It’s very hard for them to lose there. Here she is being arrested by men in plainclothes. Over an op-ed. Still disturbs me.
I’m back with your yearly reminder that Whitney Houston sang the best National Anthem of all time. People are still pretending it can be beat. It can’t. Just put this on the Jumbotron every year.
This is a horror story. A Florida woman who lives paycheck to paycheck was fined over $100,000 for...parking on her own grass. A judge ruled that wasn't "excessive." The Florida Supreme Court won't hear her case. She's not even the first. A thread.
Contrary to what this administration says, merely having a gun on you is *not* enough to justify deadly force. Claiming otherwise is legally illiterate. Here’s why:
These stories never fail to make my jaw drop. A CPS worker ruled this family neglected their son because they...let him ride his scooter a third of a mile away. They’re now living under a government “safety plan” for behavior that was normal just a few decades ago. reason.com/2026/01/16/s...
She let her 6-year-old ride to the park alone. Georgia called it neglect.
Despite a new state law protecting childhood independence, child welfare officials accused these Atlanta parents of neglect—and put their family under surveillance.
reason.com
A potential silver lining to the news out of Venezuela: more people may finally become aware of how Chávez and Maduro’s socialism—price controls, oil nationalization, attacks on property rights—helped turn one of Latin America’s richest countries into one of its poorest.
There are few things that haunt me more than someone dying this young. Her essay on coming to terms with her mortality was one of the more gorgeous things I’ve read, and a reminder how lucky we are to be here. RIP.
Phil Lewis@phillewis.bsky.social · 7mo agoBOSTON (AP) — Environmental journalist Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of late President John F. Kennedy, has died, family says.
A SWAT team threw 30+ grenades into an innocent man’s business while chasing a suspect. L.A. left him with a $60,000 bill. His livelihood was destroyed. A federal court says he’s entitled to $0. Whatever your politics, that’s a travesty. reason.com/2025/12/29/i...
Innocent man sues for over $60,000 after police blew up his business. A court says he's entitled to nothing.
Carlos Pena sued Los Angeles for over $60,000 after law enforcement destroyed his printing shop in pursuit of a fugitive who had broken in.
reason.com
Thinking about the time my sister blew up a photo of a guy trolling me on Twitter, framed it, and gave it to me as my Christmas gift. You can’t top it
