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Latest Articles: U.S. Constitution
After 91 Years, New York Will Let Its People Boogie
Post Date: 2017-10-31 12:21:52 by Willie Green
2 Comments
A nearly century-old law that turned New York bars into no-dancing zones, prevented singers like Billie Holiday and Ray Charles from performing and drew protest from Frank Sinatra, is finally set to be struck down.The Cabaret Law was created during Prohibition to patrol speakeasies, and while its restrictions on musicians came and went, the ban on social dancing has remained — leaving generations of club owners flicking the lights or playing “Eleanor Rigby” to still the crowd, lest they be fined or padlocked by the police in midnight raids. It is an odd and archaic regulation in a city that thinks of itself as a night life capital, but one that has resisted multiple attempts ...
Scalias All the Way Down
Post Date: 2017-10-19 02:10:41 by Tooconservative
1 Comments
Ask most Republicans to identify Donald Trump’s biggest triumph to date, and the answer comes quick: Supreme Court Justice Neil Gorsuch. That’s the cramped view. The media remains so caught up with the president’s tweets that it has missed Mr. Trump’s project to transform the rest of the federal judiciary. The president is stocking the courts with a class of brilliant young textualists bearing little relation to even their Reagan or Bush predecessors. Mr. Trump’s nastygrams to Bob Corker will be a distant memory next week. Notre Dame law professor Amy Coney Barrett’s influence on the Seventh U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals could still be going strong 40 years ...
Donald Trump Is Handicapping Supreme Court Vacancies
Post Date: 2017-10-16 00:27:38 by Tooconservative
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Axios has a rather breathless “scoop” that Trump thinks he’ll select a total of four Supreme Court Justices by the end of his first term. This is what the set up looks like: Father Time and the actuarial tables say that three is a safe bet and four is a definite possibility (this is counting Gorsuch as the first, not saying there will be four in addition to Gorsuch.) Asked how he comes to that jaw-dropping number, Trump mentions the obvious: he’s already replaced Antonin Scalia with Neil Gorsuch, and there are rumors Anthony Kennedy will retire.“Ok,” one source told Trump, “so that’s two. Who are the others?” “Ginsburg,” Trump ...
Impeachment for “Impulsive, Ignorant Incompetence”?
Post Date: 2017-10-12 09:01:53 by Willie Green
15 Comments
In Sunday’s episode of “Reality-Show Presidency,” we found out what happens when the president and the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee “stop being polite… and start getting real.” After President Trump blasted him in a series of tweets early Sunday, Sen. Bob Corker (R-TN) shot back: Senator Corker is hardly the only highly placed Republican to express grave doubts about Trump’s stability and competence. Daniel Drezner has assembled a list—now at 115 items and counting—of news stories in which the president’s own aides or political allies talk about him as if he’s a “toddler.” But since ...
In victory for Trump, Supreme Court dismisses travel ban case
Post Date: 2017-10-11 09:22:55 by Tooconservative
6 Comments
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court dismissed a major challenge to President Trump's travel ban on majority-Muslim countries Tuesday because it has been replaced by a new version, sending the controversy back to the starting block. The ruling is a victory for the Trump administration, which had asked the court to drop the case after Trump signed a proclamation Sept. 24 that replaced the temporary travel ban on six nations with a new, indefinite ban affecting eight countries. That action made the court challenge moot, the justices ruled. "We express no view on the merits," the justices said in a one-page order. The decision effectively wipes the record clean in the U.S. ...
Mitch McConnell Goes to the Mattresses for Trump's Judicial Nominees
Post Date: 2017-10-11 09:17:26 by Tooconservative
3 Comments
The Republican drive to confirm federal judges has gained momentum from a series of actions by Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell. They seem modest but are likely to speed up the confirmation of both appeals and district court judges—conservatives, for the most part. Democrats won’t be pleased. The steps McConnell has taken in recent weeks are aimed at thwarting their efforts to block, sideline, or delay President Trump’s nominees. Here’s what McConnell has done: * Confirming judicial nominees has been elevated to a top priority in the Senate. “I decide the priority,” McConnell said in an interview. “Priority between an assistant secretary of State ...
New DoJ transgender discrimination memo highlights how messy the Civil Rights Act is
Post Date: 2017-10-07 11:44:38 by Tooconservative
11 Comments
The ongoing SJW battles over transgenderism took another sharp turn this week when Attorney General Jeff Sessions issued a memo on the subject dealing with anti-discrimination lawsuits. During the Obama administration, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act was expanded by executive fiat to blur the word “sex” (as in male or female) into the more recent, trendy, but wholly unscientific idea of “gender” as meaning something different. This led to questions of whether or not workplace discrimination protections apply to so-called transgender individuals. Now, with a new memo having been issued, the federal government’s position in any pending or future lawsuits has ...
Second Amendment caucus leader blasts NRA's 'horrible' plan for 'bump stocks'
Post Date: 2017-10-06 20:37:28 by Hondo68
3 Comments
"I think it's a horrible idea, to ask the ATF to contort existing law," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., said. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, File) The Republican leader of the Congressional Second Amendment Caucus blasted the National Rifle Association's stance on how the federal government should deal with "bump stocks," and said it's a recipe for the Trump administration to search for new gun restrictions in the law where there are none. "I think it's a horrible idea, to ask the ATF to contort existing law," Rep. Thomas Massie, R-Ky., told the Washington Examiner on Thursday. "I think it sets a bad precedent." Massie was reacting to the ...
NRA Caves On "Bump Fire Stocks," Says They Should Be "Subject To Additional Regulations"
Post Date: 2017-10-05 16:30:31 by Hondo68
9 Comments
Following the tragic events in Las Vegas, which were seemingly made even worse by a product that most people didn't even know existed a couple of days ago, and ramped-up calls for new gun restrictions from Democrats, the National Rifle Association has just caved and called for "additional regulations" on "bump fire stocks" which effectively serve to allow semi-automatic weapons to function as fully-automatic. Here is the full statement from the NRA: "In the aftermath of the evil and senseless attack in Las Vegas, the American people are looking for answers as to how future tragedies can be prevented." "Unfortunately, the first response ...
DOJ releases overruled memos finding it illegal for presidents to appoint relatives
Post Date: 2017-10-04 08:46:50 by cranky
2 Comments
The Justice Department has released a series of recently overruled legal memos concluding that presidents cannot appoint their relatives to the White House staff or presidential commissions, even to unpaid posts.In January, a career Justice Department official essentially declared the earlier opinions erroneous or obsolete, clearing the way for President Donald Trump's son-in-law Jared Kushner to take a senior adviser position in the White House.The legal opinion that cleared the way for Kushner and Ivanka Trump appointments reversed earlier advice. The newly disclosed opinions, issued to the administrations of Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter and Ronald Reagan and obtained by POLITICO ...
How Badly Is Neil Gorsuch Annoying the Other Supreme Court Justices?
Post Date: 2017-10-01 14:22:52 by Tooconservative
13 Comments
In 2009 and 2010, Virginia Thomas became an outspoken opponent of the new President, Barack Obama. Ginni Thomas, as she is known, travelled the country as a leader of the growing Tea Party movement, which was particularly focussed on overturning the Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare. Around the same time, legal challenges to the law were working their way to the Supreme Court, where Ginni’s husband, Clarence Thomas, serves. Media attention began to focus on the propriety of such a close association between a Justice and a public adversary of a law whose fate was before the Court. Then, shortly before the A.C.A. case came before the Justices, in 2012, something happened. ...
Here are the major questions before the Supreme Court this fall
Post Date: 2017-09-24 19:27:08 by cranky
1 Comments
The Supreme Court opens its new term Oct. 2 and will quickly take up major disputes involving President Trump, immigration policy, religious liberty, gay rights and partisan gerrymandering.Here are the major questions before the court this fall:Trump and the travel banCan President Trump temporarily block the entry of foreign travelers from six majority Muslim nations because they pose a “heightened risk” of terrorism, or is his order unconstitutional because it reflects bias against Muslims and is not based on evidence of a true security threat?The U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals in California and the 4th Circuit in Virginia struck down Trump’s order, but in late June, the ...
Worse Than Speed Limits (Fungible Laws)
Post Date: 2017-09-14 07:41:31 by Deckard
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Even better – from a certain point-of-view – than a radar trap based on an under-posted speed limit is a radar trap with a changing speed limit. One that can be dumbed-down at random and with no prior notice, at the whim of the same government workers who enforce the limits and profit from that enforcement.It’s called Variable Speed Limits and the Feds – through the Department of Transportation – are not only encouraging the states to adopt them, they are bribing them to adopt them. Cue Dr. Evil voice – one billion dollars mulcted from taxpayers has been earmarked to mulct taxpayers a second time via “pilot” VSL programs – and at least nine ...
Supreme Court Temporarily Puts Trump's Travel Ban in Fuller Force Again as It Hears Briefing on the Issues and Debates a Ruling
Post Date: 2017-09-11 19:55:41 by Tooconservative
0 Comments
The Ninth Circuit enjoined the government from implementing the travel ban in full, and the Supreme Court has temporarily stayed that injunction, meaning the travel ban is back in fuller effect. Note it's in fuller effect, not full. That's because the Ninth Circus objected to two parts of the travel ban. One part they claimed was unconstitutional was limiting the family members who could visit their relatives in the US to close family members, not stuff like cousins. The other part they claimed (falsely) was unconstitutional was the ban on refugees -- the Ninth Circus claimed that if there was a refugee resettlement group offering "formal assurances" on behalf of the ...
Trump Continues to Remake the Federal Judiciary
Post Date: 2017-09-07 17:42:10 by Tooconservative
0 Comments
President Donald Trump submitted another slate of judicial nominees to the Senate Thursday, naming candidates to the powerful federal appeals courts based in Washington, D.C., and San Francisco, California. The White House announced that Trump has named Gregory Katsas to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit, the nation’s second most powerful judicial panel, and Ryan Bounds to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, the West Coast appeals court and primary antagonist of the early days of the Trump presidency. Katsas’ nomination was widely expected. He currently serves as deputy White House counsel and has played a major role in the administration’s early ...
Are sex offender registries unconstitutional?
Post Date: 2017-09-02 18:42:21 by Tooconservative
5 Comments
A ruling coming out of a federal court in Denver this week could lead to a significant change in how the country deals with convicted sex offenders. Judge Richard Matsch heard a case involving three convicted sex offenders who were protesting having all of their personal information published on a public sex offender registry. Rather than ruling on whether or not the three could have their details removed (which was all that was requested), Matsch ruled that the entire registry was unconstitutional. This one is going to be appealed and if it makes it to the Supreme Court it could impact the laws in pretty much every state in the union. (CBS Denver) A federal court judge in Denver has ...
Public sector unions are beginning to panic
Post Date: 2017-09-02 18:39:14 by Tooconservative
2 Comments
Those who follow labor union issues likely remember the disappointing conclusion in March of 2016 to the case of Friedrichs v. California Teachers Association. Friedrichs had sought to stop the mandatory “contribution” of dues out of the paychecks of teachers who either did not belong to the teachers union or did not support their political positions. With the death of Antonin Scalia, the Supreme Court split 4-4 on the case an allowed the unfair practice to continue. Now, as John Hinderaker reports at Powerline, another case is making its way before the court and it’s dealing with the same set of issues. Janus v. American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, ...
Trump, Sheriff Joe, and the Thrill of Arbitrary Power
Post Date: 2017-09-01 07:39:57 by Deckard
5 Comments
The president admires strong men who break the law to enforce it.Three days before Donald Trump pardoned Joe Arpaio, he suggested that the former Maricopa County, Arizona, sheriff was "convicted for doing his job." In reality, Arpaio was convicted for doing someone else's job by enforcing federal immigration law. When a federal judge told him to cut it out, Arpaio openly defied the order. By giving a pass to Arpaio's criminal contempt, the president reveals the hollowness of his supposed commitment to law and order. Beginning in 2007, specially trained Maricopa County deputies had authority under Section 287(g) of the Immigration and Nationality Act to detain people they ...
Could Trump Deliver a Conservative Federal Judiciary?
Post Date: 2017-08-30 08:18:06 by Tooconservative
19 Comments
President Trump thinks the Gorsuch appointment to the Supreme Court is one of his biggest achievements of his presidency. Another major success may await him: the redirection of the lower federal courts, such that there will be more Republican than Democratic appointees, and thus a more conservative federal judiciary. Democrats know the judicial map, yet what can they do to slow the Republicans down? It takes just 51 votes to confirm a judge, and there are 52 Republicans.* The Democrats are in the minority, and they no longer have the filibuster, a tool that they themselves did away with when they were in the majority in 2013. Trump and Senate Republicans would appear to be able to have ...
Congress Quietly Passed A Bill Allowing Warrantless Searches of Homes – Only 1% Opposed It
Post Date: 2017-08-27 07:57:42 by IbJensen
4 Comments
A bill that will allow homes to be searched without a warrant was passed with overwhelming support by the United States Congress, and signed into law by President Trump—and it happened with no media coverage and very little fanfare. On the surface, House Joint Resolution 76 looks harmless. The title of the bill claims that its purpose is “Granting the consent and approval of Congress for the Commonwealth of Virginia, the State of Maryland, and the District of Columbia to enter into a compact relating to the establishment of the Washington Metrorail Safety Commission.” The proposal for a safety commission to act as a wing of the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority ...
Tech companies crack down on free speech then label it hate speech like the true fascists they are
Post Date: 2017-08-20 09:45:46 by Willie Green
23 Comments
Technology companies are confronting difficult questions about whether they should use their power to silence hate speech online
Several tech companies have cracked down on white supremacist groups in the wake of a rally in Charlottesville, Va., where a woman was killed by a car driven into a counter protest crowd
Facebook and Twitter took down the accounts of hate groups from their platforms. GoDaddy and Google banned neo-Nazi website the Daily Stormer from their domain hosting services, effectively taking it off the internet
But many in the tech world wonder where they should draw the line when policing content, fearing the crackdown could lead to censorship
In an letter to ...
More arrested in toppling of Confederate statue in North Carolina
Post Date: 2017-08-16 19:13:10 by Justified
6 Comments
Three more protesters were arrested Wednesday for participating in the toppling of a nearly century-old statue of a Confederate soldier in North Carolina. Dante Strobino, 35, and Ngoc Loan Tran, 24, were arrested when they attended a court hearing for another woman who was charged Tuesday for climbing a ladder to attach a rope to the bronze soldier. Peter Gilbert, 39, was arrested later Wednesday afternoon. Ngoc Loan Tran, 24 (Durham County Sheriff’s Office) The Durham County Sheriff’s office said the three arrested Wednesday were charged with two felonies related to inciting and participating in a riot that damaged property. Dante Strobino, 35 (Durham County Sheriff's ...
Federal Court Rules Citizens Have No Right to Film Politicians & Police in Public
Post Date: 2017-08-12 09:54:35 by Deckard
18 Comments
Contradicting the rulings of six others federal courts, the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals annihilated free speech rights in upholding a district court decision stating citizens do not have the right to film public officials — politicians, police, and others — in public. In affirming the decision of the lower court to dismiss, the Eighth Circuit effectively ended free speech activist Matthew Akins’ challenge to the Columbia, Missouri, Police Department, which he accuses of unlawfully stopping and arresting him on multiple occasions — though nearly all charges were later dropped — as he filmed their encounters with the public, in public. Akins says the spate of ...
‘We’ll never be the same’: How a hydroponic tomato garden inspired cops to raid a family’s home
Post Date: 2017-07-29 15:26:20 by Anthem
9 Comments
The police report would claim it all kicked off at 7:38 a.m., but Bob Harte later thought it had to be earlier. His 7:20 a.m. alarm had just yanked him awake. Got to get the kids — a boy in seventh grade, a girl in kindergarten — ready for school. Then he heard, like a starter’s pistol setting everything into motion, the first pounding on the front door of his home in Leawood, Kan., a bedroom suburb south of Kansas City. It was thunderous. It didn’t stop. Should I get up? Bob thought. Should I not? Sounded like the house was coming down, he would recall later. Wearing only gym shorts, the stocky 51-year-old left his wife in bed and shuffled downstairs. The solid front ...
Michigan Man Told To “Give Up Some Of Your Constitutional Rights” In Exchange For Adopting Grandson
Post Date: 2017-07-21 09:39:14 by Deckard
3 Comments
Anyone with half a brain can read the Second Amendment, and clearly articulate its intent. It’s not a complicated law. It’s not buried in high-brow legalese that is indecipherable to the average person. Once you understand the original meaning of the words when they were written, and the wider context of the Bill of Rights, its meaning is obvious. The Second Amendment protects an individuals right to own and use firearms, which is a meaning that has been upheld by the Supreme Court. So it’s always somewhat surprising to learn that there are so many states with laws that disregard the Second Amendment. It’s baffling that it’s taken so long to strike down these ...
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