Free Republic

WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court seemed poised on Monday to deliver a severe blow to organized labor. The justices appeared divided along familiar lines during an extended argument over whether government workers who choose not to join unions may nonetheless be required to help pay for collective bargaining. The court's conservative majority appeared ready to say that such compelled financial support violates the First Amendment Collective bargaining, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy said, is inherently political when the government is the employer, and issues like merit pay, promotions and classroom size are subject to negotiation. The best hope for a victory...

Overwhelming consensus' that Office for Civil Rights is treating its guidance as binding. Arne Duncan's temporary replacement isn't getting a honeymoon from the chairman of a Senate subcommittee, who is upset about the Department of Education's machinations against colleges. Republican Sen. James Lankford of Oklahoma is demanding answers from acting Secretary of Education John King about the authority of the Office for Civil Rights (OCR) to force colleges to strip students of their right to due process. Lankford isn't the first senator to raise the question of whether OCR's methods - issuing "Dear Colleague" letters that purport to explain existing...

Last week, the House Oversight Committee held a hearing on the terrorism and visa waiver programs. Department of Homeland Security's Deputy Assistant Secretary Kelli Ann Burriesci was asked to testify. Her testimony can be found here. Rep. Trey Gowdy (R-SC) ripped into her for giving scarce and I'm being generous with that term details on what process is offered to American citizens before they're added on the terrorism watch list for mere suspicion, not conviction, of being terrorists. "What process is afforded a U.S. citizen, not someone who has overstayed a visa, not someone who crossed the border without permission, but an...

Raising the bar for other cities throughout the country, New York City announced "strong" and "bold" protections for transgender and gender non-conforming individuals. The new legal guidance, issued Dec. 21 by the New York City Commission on Human Rights, came as part of an expansion of the city's 2002 Human Rights Law, which protects against discrimination in a range of categories. The updated policy specifically protects transgender and gender non-conforming individuals from discrimination in areas of employment, public accommodation, and housing.

During Wednesday's House floor debate on a reconciliation bill that would repeal Obamacare and defund Planned Parenthood, Rep. Steve Cohen (D.-Tenn.) argued that Jesus and Moses would oppose what the House was seeking to do. "We just came through Hanukkah and Christmas, and we ought to think a little bit about what Hanukkah and Christmas were about and what Moses and Jesus would be about," said Cohen. "I think they would be about saving lives and about giving everybody an opportunity to live, not patient-centric health care, but people living and getting health care like every other civilized, industrialized country...

You’d think a law professor would know that the First Amendment, by its very nature, protects speech that is deeply unpopular. But the interim vice chancellor for inclusion, diversity and equity at the University of Missouri has apparently not brushed up on the Bill of Rights since he took his position this fall.

With a view towards curbing abusive posts, Twitter has established new, stricter guidelines, stating, "We do not tolerate behavior that crosses the line into abuse, including behavior that harasses, intimidates, or uses fear to silence another user's voice." So far, so good. I can't imagine that anyone thinks we need more incivility and hatred and incitement on social media, and I can understand why Twitter CEO Dick Costolo feels "ashamed" at how poorly his company has handled abusers. With that in mind, Twitter's guidelines are understandable, stating, "You may not promote violence against or directly attack or threaten other people...

While appearing on Alan Colmes' radio show some months ago, former presidential candidate Ron Paul expressed his belief that Trump is "almost the opposite of a libertarian" candidate. Trump, according to Paul, never expresses his desire to "give you your freedom and your liberty to run your life as you choose." Rather, he in effect assures us: "I know the answers and I'm going to do this and I've done this, I've done this, this and this."Surely, Paul is on to something. That being said, the following considerations should be borne in mind. First, that Paul rejects Trump for not being a...

Which is obvious to anyone not intentionally misreading it. The real news here is not that Antonin Scalia said this, but that it’s the slightest bit controversial. But that’s not something that happened overnight. The secular left and their media servants have spent decades pushing the idea that the establishment clause is about protecting the non-religious from maniacal Jesus freaks - especially the nightmare scenario in which the Jesus freaks get a job with any public entity and are guided in any decision by biblical principles. Scalia is a man who actually knows about the founding of the nation and...

Several prominent accounts suspended as social media giant tightens 'hateful conduct' rules

Some readers may have noticed that six months have passed since I wrote a column criticizing the whacky leftist administration at my university, UNC-Wilmington. I am happy to report the reason for the silence is that the wacky leftist administrators are now gone. In addition to that, on July 1st of this year our university got its first out of the closet conservative chancellor. You heard that right. UNC-Wilmington is now under the leadership of a conservative chancellor. And he makes no effort to hide it. Jose "Zito" Sartarelli is just the man we have been looking for. Unlike me,...

PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) — Oregon bakery owners who denied service to a same-sex couple have paid $135,000 in state-ordered damages — after refusing to do so for nearly six months. The Bureau of Labor and Industries says Aaron Klein, co-owner of the Portland-area bakery, dropped off a check Monday for $136,927.07. That includes accrued interest. Klein also paid $7,000 earlier this month.

It is one of the most hallowed precepts in modern constitutional law: Freedom of speech may not be curbed unless it poses a *clear and present danger* ~ an actual, imminent threat, not the mere advocacy of harmful acts or ideas. But in response to the Islamic State*s success in grooming jihadists over the Internet, some legal scholars are asking whether it is time to reconsider that constitutional line.

Who will fact check the fact checkers?How about you and me?Take a PolitiFact story last week out of Iowa, where Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Texas) is the current Republican front-runner as the state's Feb. 1 presidential caucus approaches. Earlier this month, Sen. Cruz told a Cedar Rapids crowd, "The Democrats in the Senate last year introduced a constitutional amendment to repeal the free speech protections of the First Amendment."Is this statement true or false?It's true.The constitutional amendment proposed by Sen. Tom Udall (D-N.M.) and voted for by every Democratic Party U. S. Senator states, "Congress and the States may regulate and...

The Obama administration is using the International Traffic in Arms Regulations to censor publication of information on the Internet.   The department ordered Defense Distributed to take down files for 3D printing of a simple single shot handgun on a website  owned by Defense Distributed.   Cody Wilson is widely considered to have been the inventor of the 3D printed pistol. Defense Distributed joined with the Second Amendment Foundation to file a lawsuit against the Obama administration State Department for violation of their First, Second, and Fifth Amendment rights.    The case is Defense Distributed v. U.S. Department of State.  The...

The First Amendment right to freedom of religion seems to be utterly meaningless to liberals in government today as they continue to make rulings that are the equivalent of ripping the Constitution to pieces and wiping their backsides with it. Courts in Massachusetts are now telling Catholic schools they have no choice but to hire homosexuals, despite the fact doing so goes against their beliefs. This is exactly why separation of church and state exists. Not to keep God out of government, but government out of the church. From Christian News: A state court in Massachusetts has ruled that a...

So what are well-intentioned people of faith supposed to do? How does one respond to the incessant onslaught of negativity, criticism and legal action aimed at those who choose to make their religious convictions known in the public square? Perhaps a good place to start would be the example set by the young men of the Naperville Central High School football team in suburban Chicago. After representatives from The Freedom from Religion Foundation filed a complaint against Coach Mike Stine’s voluntary practice of allowing players who want to to gather on the field and pray before games, senior player Daniel...

Yale University was nationally embarrassed earlier this week when political satirist Ami Horowitz released a video showing students happily agreeing to sign a "petition" that calls for the repeal of the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.According to Horowitz, he got 60 signatures in less than an hour.Now Yale’s spokesperson has suggested the video doesn’t show what it shows."There are a number of heavily edited prank videos like this one circulating lately in which someone surreptitiously records people while pretending to support a position that they actually oppose, and trying to get the individuals they speak with to agree with...

If this were a joke, it would have to start out: “So, three censors walk into a bar….” Except that it’s no joking matter when the trio calling for private or public censoring of the Internet include the two leading candidates (at this moment) for leader of the Free World, and the head of the largest search engine and information company on the planet. The free flow of information and communication of ideas – even repugnant ones – is a hallmark of American democracy. Even “hate speech” has constitutional protection when it offends, insults or attacks. Only when speakers cross...

Trigger warning! This story and video may be unsuitable viewing for the “safe space” crowd. Looking to understand just how controversial the debate over free speech on our college campuses really is, filmmaker and satirist Ami Horowitz recently traveled to Yale University, one of our nation’s most prestigious institutions of higher learning, to speak directly to students. “I decided to take this campus free speech debate to its logical conclusion,” said Horowitz, who asked students if they’d sign a petition calling for an outright repeal of the First Amendment. “The result was this unbelievable display of total stupidity.” In fact,...