Americans should beware when Members of Congress talk about "reform" and "comprehensive" because those words usually cover a lot of mischief. The latest example of this legerdemain is the so-called Patent Reform now aggressively pushed by Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Patrick Leahy (D-VT).

Over the years the distinction between public and private spaces has become obscured. Which is why Starbucks is finding it so difficult to insist that customers do not carry weapons while in their establishment. It is because over the last several decades a doctrine of public accommodation has developed in the law such that when some area is adjacent to a public sphere - a street or road or park - it no longer enjoys private property rights, the authority to determine what happens there.

Two fairly recent press releases from ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) deal with a series of successful field operations in California and Texas. The most recent was published on February 26th of this year, while the other was published in December of 2009. They are significant because they show how ICE can, when working synergistically with other law enforcement agencies, perform a vital function for our nation and our citizens by removing criminal aliens from our midst. I'd like to point out other items that may not be immediately obvious.

The Sierra Vista Herald reports that the U.S. Border Patrol apprehended a large group of 53 illegal aliens yesterday west of the San Pedro River (this is very close to American Border Patrol's headquarters.) According to the report, the aliens were spotted by a Border Patrol camera.