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Billy Binion

@billybinion.bsky.social
9.7K followers 123 following 600 posts

Journalist. Criminal justice & government accountability. Yes, this is my real name.

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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Not long ago, reasonable childhood independence was normal. Now it's often treated as a crime. Karyann Parkinson was sentenced to 6 months in jail for...letting her kid walk down the street. Virginia sees her as a child abuser. Do you feel safer? /end reason.com/2026/09/02/v...
reason.com
Virginia mom gets 6-month suspended jail sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond
The government also placed Karyann Parkinson on its child abuse and neglect registry, where she will remain for seven years.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Alexandra Woodward was arrested in 2025 and charged with first-degree *child cruelty* for...leaving her 8- and 10-year-old boys home alone for a couple of hours. They were safe. Nothing happened to them. Who is this helping? /9 reason.com/2025/05/29/m...
reason.com
Mom arrested, facing 5 years in prison for leaving 8 and 10-year-old boys at home
Alexandra Woodward has been charged with cruelty to children in the first degree. Her crime? Letting her kids be home alone for a few hours.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Even more depressing: Parkinson is far from the first. The great Lenore Skenazy has been documenting these stories for years. Georgia mom Brittany Patterson was *jailed* for letting her 10-year-old son walk alone in a rural town. 10 years old! /8 reason.com/2024/11/11/m...
reason.com
Mom jailed for letting 10-year-old walk alone to town
Police handcuffed Brittany Patterson in front of three of her four children for the crime of allowing her youngest son to walk less than a mile away.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
It's ironic this happened to Parkinson. She's a former family life educator & spent 3 years as a live-in behavioral specialist at a residential treatment center, where she and her husband—a marriage & family therapist—oversaw the care of 35 girls. She's no unfit mother. /7
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Let's review: A mom of 5 now has a criminal record, is on a *child-abuse* registry, and could be sent to jail if she gives her young children independence again. This is the letter CPS sent her. It's so humiliating. /6 reason.com/2026/09/02/v...
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
...A judge convicted Parkinson of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. It comes with a 6-month jail sentence. The judge suspended that—pending good behavior. But the conviction could stop her from volunteering at her kids' schools & may keep her from her law license. /5
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
CPS said Parkinson was guilty of child abuse and neglect for letting her son walk a half-mile alone. It placed her on the state registry, where she'll remain for 7 years. Yet the case really hit rock bottom last week when... /4 reason.com/2026/09/02/v...
reason.com
Virginia mom gets 6-month suspended jail sentence for letting 5-year-old walk to the pond
The government also placed Karyann Parkinson on its child abuse and neglect registry, where she will remain for seven years.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
...A passerby saw her son & alerted security. A guard took him home & told him bad people would want to take him if he was out alone. Parkinson says that "scared the crap out of him." Soon there were three cop cars, three officers, and two CPS workers at Parkinson's door. /3
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
Parkinson was 8 months pregnant when her son asked if he could walk to the pond & collect some goose feathers. It's a short trip down a sidewalk, which is separated from the street by about 10 feet of grass. He'd done it safely many times before. She said yes. But... /2
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 02/09/2026
This is Karyann Parkinson and her five kids. She just received a 6-month suspended jail sentence and is now on Virginia's child abuse registry. Her crime: letting her 5-year-old, Sam, walk a half-mile alone in their gated community. She's not the first. A thread.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
What's notable here is that Flock itself wasn't the issue. It was the terrible police work. I'm persuadable on this—the tech can help solve serious crimes when used properly. But these cases are shining a light on how careless that work can be when police cut corners. reason.com/2026/08/13/f...
reason.com
Flock cameras and license plate readers are everywhere. Can we trust cops with them?
From wrongful arrests to officers stalking exes, license plate cameras keep exposing police failures.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
One of the most maddening parts of these stories is how bad cops often keep their badges. The officer harassing the woman on video was previously fired from another department for breaking the law. Yet here he is, still with a taxpayer-funded gun. www.cbsnews.com/colorado/new...
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
Another example: Police put this woman in jail & seized her car for 7 months after a Flock camera saw a Dodge Durango kill 3 people. Her Durango wasn't even the same color. But police didn't bother to check. reason.com/2026/08/13/f...
reason.com
Flock cameras and license plate readers are everywhere. Can we trust cops with them?
From wrongful arrests to officers stalking exes, license plate cameras keep exposing police failures.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
That clip is hard to watch. The woman is (understandably) very confused as the cop harasses her. Police only dropped the case after she provided cellphone tracking data, footage from her car, and video placing her elsewhere. But they never should've gone after her to begin with.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 19/08/2026
The best thing about these Flock controversies is they're exposing how shoddy some police work is. This cop accosted an innocent woman & said he was "100%" sure she was a thief. Why? Because Flock saw her car around the time of a theft—and he didn't bother to...do an actual investigation.
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Reposted by Billy Binion
cobbdouglas.bsky.social @cobbdouglas.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Definitely read this thread
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The city appealed & lost. So Baker will get her $60,000—plus interest. She’s “lucky.” Many never get anything. Officials spent years of taxpayer dollars trying to stop an old woman from getting help after the government ruined her home. How does that make any sense? /end reason.com/2026/05/22/a...
reason.com
A SWAT team destroyed an innocent woman's home. She's been waiting 6 years for justice.
Vicki Baker is more fortunate than several other similarly situated victims. But it took a very long time to get there.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The Supreme Court rejected Baker’s case in 2024. So there will continue to be more victims. But Baker did manage to get some good news. A judge ruled she could sue under the state constitution instead—an option many people are not afforded. /9 reason.com/2024/12/23/a...
reason.com
A SWAT team destroyed an innocent woman's house. The Supreme Court won't hear her case.
Whether or not the government is required under the 5th Amendment to pay such victims will remain an open question.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
It’s also what happened to Carlos Pena & Amy Hadley. A SWAT team destroyed Pena’s business after a suspect locked himself inside. Police wrecked Hadley’s home after a botched investigation led them there. Neither committed a crime. The government gave them both nothing. /8
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Baker is not the first. A SWAT team destroyed Leo Lech’s $580,000 home after a suspect broke in. He had to demolish the house and take out a $390,000 loan. The city gave him $5,000, and the Supreme Court declined to hear his case. /7 reason.com/2020/06/29/s...
reason.com
A SWAT Team Blew Up This Family's House While Chasing a Shoplifter. The Supreme Court Won't Hear the Case.
And no, it wasn't the shoplifter's home.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The Constitution promises “just compensation” when private property is taken for public use. But some courts say exceptions exist when cops are involved. The 5th Circuit ruled the city didn’t have to pay Baker—who’s innocent of wrongdoing—because police acted by “necessity.” /6
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
The city tried to stop Baker from suing. She did anyway. A judge let her suit proceed in 2021, and a jury awarded her $60,000 in 2022. Then a federal court overturned that judgement in 2023—over three years after the raid. The reason why tells you a lot about this debate. /5
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Baker was in her mid-70s and undergoing cancer treatment. "I've lost everything," she told me in 2021. "I've lost my chance to retire without fear of how I'm going to make my regular bills." If she isn’t a victim, who is? /4 reason.com/2021/03/05/s...
reason.com
A SWAT Team Destroyed This Innocent Woman's House While Chasing a Fugitive. The City Refuses To Pay for Damages.
What's a home worth? It's a tough question, and it's one that Vicki Baker found herself trying to answer the…
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
Police did $60,000 in damages to Baker's house. Her insurance declined to help, as many policies don’t reimburse when the government is at fault. But the government told Baker she didn’t meet its definition of a "victim." This is what the outside of the home looked like. /3
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
This is Vicki Baker. A fugitive barricaded himself inside her house in 2020. A SWAT team detonated approximately 30 explosives in the home. Officers eventually found that the suspect had killed himself. But Baker's home was destroyed. That was just the beginning. /2
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 09/06/2026
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
Hungary is the only country in the EU not classified as "free." Corruption is rampant. Orban’s illiberal leadership didn’t even accomplish its objectives—the country is poorer, fertility is still low, and religious affiliation has *declined.* A total failure. freedomhouse.org/country/hung...
freedomhouse.org
Hungary: Country Profile
Access Freedom House reports on Hungary, see recent news and perspectives, and learn about our work in the country.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 13/04/2026
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 31/03/2026
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
If Congress refuses to abolish TSA, then at the very least it should allow the two Minneapolis women behind me in line to start their TSA beverage cart business so we don’t have to wait in 3.5-hour security theater lines while sober. Thank you for your attention to this matter.
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Reposted by Billy Binion
Julian Sanchez @normative.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
TSA isn’t even good at what it does. The agency missed *95 percent* of explosives & weapons in an undercover DHS investigation. The real security upgrade after 9/11 was locking cockpit doors. Everything else is mostly security theater. reason.com/2026/03/26/i...
reason.com
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
Don’t forget this chaos—and what allowed it—once it ends. Scores of people’s lives were temporarily upended because lawmakers wanted to leverage that misfortune in a political food fight. It’s absurd they have the power to do that. They shouldn’t. reason.com/2026/03/26/i...
reason.com
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
People act like TSA is the only way to do airport security. That’s wrong. Several airports—including San Francisco—use private contractors to do screening. They haven’t missed potential terror attacks, and they don’t have mile-long lines right now. We don’t have to accept chaos.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 27/03/2026
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...
reason.com
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
I would agree!
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
Chalamet’s opera controversy broke out the same day Oscars voting closed, so who knows how much it mattered. But the fact that he could plausibly lose for saying a totally benign fact tells you what you need to know about the Academy Awards.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 16/03/2026
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.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
I love it so much!
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
An anecdote from my time in opera. Perhaps the people across the world yelling at Timothée Chalamet could take their indignation to the opera box office, where they’ve likely never been.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 11/03/2026
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...
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 06/03/2026
Addendum: She also killed a puppy and bragged about it in a book
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Kristi Noem's tenure at Homeland Security was marked by a lot of dishonesty, a disregard for the Constitution, and a penchant for using public funds on self-promotion. Whatever your politics, that is the record she leaves behind.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
More recently, Noem spent over $220 million on an advertising campaign featuring herself. Perhaps worse, the taxpayer-funded contracts circumvented the normal competitive process & were secretly awarded to a company with close ties to Noem. reason.com/2026/03/04/d...
reason.com
DHS spent $220 million on ads featuring Kristi Noem. Both parties are grilling her about it in the Senate.
During a Senate hearing, the DHS secretary faced tough questions about a campaign that secretly awarded millions to a company with close ties to her.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Noem has spent a lot of taxpayer money. DHS bought a luxury $70 million jet equipped with a private cabin. Noem has been using it to travel with Corey Lewandowski, the adviser with whom she is allegedly having an affair. reason.com/2026/02/13/h...
reason.com
How much is Kristi Noem's alleged adultery airplane costing you?
If the DHS secretary is actually having a high-flying affair with Trump adviser Corey Lewandowski, the taxpayers are the ones getting screwed.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Under Noem's leadership, DHS lied—over and over—about people arrested by immigration enforcement. The government has repeatedly released sensational stories tarring people, only for evidence to come out showing completely different stories. reason.com/2025/10/22/h...
reason.com
Homeland Security won't stop lying about who immigration enforcers are arresting
In case after case, Homeland Security's Public Affairs Office releases incorrect information about arrests carried out by federal immigration officers.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Noem threatened to have people prosecuted & jailed for filming law enforcement, despite the fact that 7 federal circuit courts have confirmed that this is a basic First Amendment right. Free speech still applies when inconvenient. reason.com/2025/12/22/d...
reason.com
DHS says recording or following law enforcement 'sure sounds like obstruction of justice'
Seven federal circuit courts have upheld the First Amendment right to record and monitor the police.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Noem's hostility to civil liberties was part of a pattern. In May, she told Congress that the president can suspend habeas corpus on a whim to deport people. That is not how the Constitution works. reason.com/2025/05/20/w...
reason.com
What Kristi Noem gets wrong about habeas corpus
The legal principle safeguards civil liberties, protecting even unpopular people from the government.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
After shipping hundreds of men to a brutal megaprison—without due process—she showed up in El Salvador to film content wearing a $50,000 watch. Some of those men had sought asylum here legally. reason.com/2025/03/27/k...
reason.com
Kristi Noem uses El Salvador's nightmarish megaprison to create content
The Homeland Security secretary's use of El Salvador's largest prison for propaganda is unethical and an endorsement of an autocratic justice system.
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Billy Binion @billybinion.bsky.social · 05/03/2026
Noem lied to the public when she called certain Americans "terrorists"—despite the evidence directly contradicting those claims. Then she went before Congress and lied about her lies. reason.com/2026/03/04/i...
reason.com
In Senate testimony on DHS shootings, Kristi Noem lies about her lies
The homeland security secretary blatantly misrepresented what she said about Alex Pretti on the day he was killed.
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