(Huffington Post) Go West, young Rand. A new study released Thursday by a libertarian think tank ranks New York as the least free state, and the Dakotas, where "freedom blooms on the hills and prairies," the most.
Rounding out the authors' list of least free were 49th place California, then New Jersey, Hawaii and Rhode Island. Best off after North and South Dakota were Tennessee, New Hampshire and Oklahoma. Social liberties like marijuana laws and marriage equality were weighted in the rankings, but at the core of the study's considerations were libertarian concerns like state regulation.