Free Republic

A rule change to the Clean Water Act proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency apparently would put “any wet spot” under Washington control.

Outgoing Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe's office says he plans to pardon his son over a felony marijuana conviction. Beebe spokesman Matt DeCample said the two-term Democratic governor planned to pardon his son, Kyle, who was convicted in 2003 of felony possession of marijuana with intent to deliver. DeCample said the pardon recommendation would be included in the final pardons issued by the governor early next month.

Sen. Sessions was on with Megyn Kelly tonight to talk about Obama’s amnesty plans and how Republicans can stop them. In short, it’s all about the power of the purse. Watch:

Scandal: Documents obtained by a government watchdog group list emails between the attorney general and his wife regarding a White House statement on the "gun walking" scandal the White House wants kept secret. The release of the government's Vaughn Index of documents that the administration withheld from the House Oversight Committee's investigation of Fast and Furious may not be the October surprise that the Obama administration hoped for. It raises more questions than it answers and shows the absurd extent of the administration's cover-up. On July 18, U.S. District Court Judge John Bates ordered the Justice Department to produce, in...

Houston recently passed an ordinance through its city council that has sparked quite a bit of controversy amongst conservative evangelicals. The Houston Equal Rights Ordinance (HERO), a broad-sweeping, left-leaning law trumpeted by the City of Houston and its openly gay mayor, Annise Parker, is supposed to protect gay, lesbian and transgender people from discrimination. All well and good, but according to the Independent Journal Review, the ordinance to ensure nondiscrimination, discriminates against those of faith who oppose it. Five pastors, members of Houston's conservative, evangelical base, oppose HERO, as does the liberal Americans United for the Separation of Church and...

Officials with the city of Houston, Texas, who are defending a controversial ordinance that would allow men to use women’s restrooms now have demanded to see the sermons preached by several area pastors. The recent move came in a subpoena from the city to pastors for copies of their sermons and other communications in the city’s legal defense of a “non-discrimination” measure that allows “gender-confused” people to use public restrooms designated for the opposite sex. A lawsuit challenging Houston’s move alleges the city violated its own charter in its adoption of the Equal Rights Ordinance, which in May designated homosexuals...

What good are lapel cams and microphones if the cops are disabling them? Why aren’t they being fired for this? “No one likes to be monitored,” says Sid Heal, recently retired commander who evaluated technology during his decades-long tenure at the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. And? If you do not want to be filmed and recorded don’t be a cop. According to the arstechnica.com, The Los Angeles Police Commission is investigating how half of the recording antennas in the Southeast Division went missing, seemingly as a way to evade new self-monitoring procedures that the Los Angeles Police Department imposed...

Correction: This post initially stated that Judge Tonya Parker was “no longer” marrying straight couples. Judge Parker has never performed such marriage ceremonies. This version has been corrected. Catholic priests have refused to marry same-sex couples for years. Judge Tonya Parker (Dallas County) Now, a Texas judge has an answer to that, saying she will not marry straight couples until gay marriage is legal in the state. Judge Tonya Parker of Dallas County told the Dallas Voice that she respectfully tells couples why she can’t conduct their marriage ceremony: “I'm sorry. I don't perform marriage ceremonies because we are in...

The Federal Communications Commission is considering whether to punish broadcasters for using the moniker of the Washington NFL team, the Redskins, a word many consider a slur to Native Americans, the agency's chairman indicated on Tuesday.

COLUMBIA, SC — An S.C. trooper who stopped a man for a seat belt violation outside Columbia and then shot him – apparently without provocation – was arrested Wednesday and charged with assault and battery of a high and aggravated nature. Sean Groubert, 31, a lance corporal who was fired from the Highway Patrol after the shooting incident, now faces 20 years in prison if convicted of wrongfully shooting the driver, Levar Jones. Groubert was booked Wednesday evening at the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center. He was fired from the patrol last Friday. Wednesday night, in a hearing at the...

The practice has been controversial since its inception at the height of the drug war more than three decades ago, and its abuses have been the subject of journalistic exposés and congressional hearings. But unexplored until now is the role of the federal government and the private police trainers in encouraging officers to target cash on the nation’s highways since 9/11.

The parents of a San Jose woman killed by police after she allegedly threatened to kill her family are demanding answers and a full investigation by the district attorney's office. Diana Showman, 19, was fatally shot by an officer outsider her home after coming out holding a black power drill. Police were responding to reports of a woman holding an "uzi-type weapon" in the Blossom Hill Road neighborhood. (VIDEO)

Federal Autopsy of Michael Brown Ordered As Unrest in Ferguson Rises By RICHARD A. SERRANO, MOLLY HENNESSY-FISKE, MATT HANSEN Citing “extraordinary circumstances” in the Aug. 9 police shooting death of unarmed teenager Michael Brown in Ferguson, Mo., U.S. Atty. Gen. Eric H. Holder Jr. has instructed Department of Justice officials to have an additional autopsy performed by a federal medical examiner after unrest in the St. Louis suburb escalated again overnight. Meanwhile, law enforcement officials said the protester shot overnight, who is in critical condition, was shot by another protester, not by police. Holder's decision, announced Sunday, is the latest...

A Georgetown lawyer representing members of the Myrtle Beach Hells Angels said in a statement Friday that more than 100 charges against his clients related to arrests in April 2012, have been dismissed. John M. Hilliard III said his clients were charged in what Horry County Police called Operation Red Harvest, where he said allegations included charges of kidnapping and lynching along with various marijuana-related charges against members of the club. “There was never any credible evidence against any of my clients, a fact that I have repeatedly pointed out to the prosecution since the time of the original arrests,”...

An elderly woman's home was raided by police after she was suspected of making anonymous online threats against the Evansville police department and Chief Billy Bolin. The 68-year-old woman, Louise Milan was in the house with her 18 year old adopted daughter when police shattered a glass door and burst in after throwing flash grenades inside. Police came up empty-handed in the search for evidence about who had made the threatening posts but only after damaging Louise Milan’s house, handcuffing her and her adopted daughter and seizing their computers, according to a lawsuit that has been filed against the city...

Regulars at the Vineyard Golf Club in Martha’s Vineyard were gob-smacked when President Obama unexpectedly strolled onto a nearby green and they were immediately frisked.

Bake sales used to fuel school's sports teams and clubs, raising money for the kids going away games, nicer uniforms, field trips and so on. But, a new law limits the amount of sugary treats that many bake sales offer. So, starting this Fall bake sales won't be as sweet anymore. Parents are allowed to sell candy and goodies, but it must meet the smart snack calculator requirement. If it meets all the nutritional requirements, the calories, sugar, fat and sodium, it's ok to sell that cookie. But, if it goes over well it's not allowed and the schools can...

ERIE COUNTY, NY — (EXCLUSIVE) — A family was traumatized when gun-wielding police officers walked onto their quiet property and shot their dog in the head while looking for a man who did not live there. Megan Shimburski, 25, was spending a quiet afternoon with her children at her parents’ countryside East Concord residence on July 25, 2014. It was a normal day, she said, which involved watching her 5-year-old daughter play behind the house with their dog, as her infant son lied in a playpen inside the house. Ms. Shimburski’s parents, John Shimburski and Martha Spaulding, were not at...

The Heritage Foundation recently showed a documentary entitled “One Generation Away: the Erosion of Religious Liberty.” This bold documentary emphasized the importance of preserving our natural liberties, and expressed fear that they could easily be taken away as a secular government grows. rick santorum EcoLight Studios, a Christian movie company owned by former presidential candidate Rick Santorum, will distribute the film in theatres this September to convey an important message—freedom can be taken away far easier than it is given. Former Republican presidential candidate Rick Santorum presented the film at the Heritage event, saying that “The fight to protect our...

The sheriff’s department in Prince Edward Co., Virginia, isn’t returning phone calls about Party. No great surprise. A deputy shot the dog in late June, killing it. The department issued a CYA press release, then dummied up—perhaps in the hope the whole thing would blow over. No wonder: According to a news account, the deputy went to the home of Stephen Carwile to serve a paper in a non-criminal matter. The family wasn’t home. The department’s press release says the deputy “was charged by a vicious dog.” That would be Party—a Golden Retriever. We all know how vicious that breed...